Russian forces in Syria conducted their first patrols near the Turkish border on Wednesday to ensure Kurdish fighters withdraw under a deal between Moscow and Ankara ousting them from the minority’s entire heartland.

US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as a “big success” and announced his administration was lifting sanctions it had imposed on Turkey after it launched its offensive against Kurdish armed groups earlier this month.

Kurdish forces, who previously controlled nearly a third of Syria, have lost almost everything under the deal, which sees Turkey remain fully deployed in an Arab-majority area that was the main target of its two-week offensive.

The agreement on Tuesday in Sochi also requires Kurdish forces to pull back to a line 30km from the border along its entire 440km-length, forcing them to surrender some of their main towns and crushing their dreams of autonomy.

Trump has been accused of betraying key allies in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.

The deal – hailed as “historic” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – quashes the Kurdish minority’s dreams of a semi-autonomous region and makes way for the absorption of their de facto army into the Syrian regime’s military.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday its military police had conducted their first patrol in northern Syria, without providing more details.

Under the deal, Russian military police and Syrian border guards are to “facilitate the removal” of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters and their weapons from within 30km of the Turkish-Syrian border, within 150 hours.

Russia and Turkey will then start joint patrols in two zones stretching 10km to the east and west of Turkey’s safe zone, which is about 120km-long.

That will allow Turkey to patrol with Russia in areas of Syria that were not part of its offensive.

Several Russian-flagged military vehicles entered the area near the border town of Kobane where Syrian regime troops are based on Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the “safe zone” area was calm on Wednesday.

But explosions hit various parts of Syria’s northeast, including the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli and the town of Suluk in the Tal Abyad region near Turkey’s border.

The car bomb in Qamishli did not cause casualties, according to the Observatory. But the blast in Suluk, controlled by Ankara’s rebel proxies, killed three fighters, a rebel commander said.

It was unclear who was responsible for either.

Kurds staged angry demonstrations Wednesday in their de facto capital Qamishli, which is excluded from the Sochi agreement.

“This deal serves the interests of foreign powers and not the interests of the people,” said official Talaat Youndes.

“Turkey’s objective is to kill, displace and occupy the Kurds.”

Damascus has previously accused Kurds of treason over their alliance with Washington and repeatedly said it would eventually restore government control over all of Syria.

The Kremlin on Wednesday accused Washington of betraying the Kurds by withdrawing its forces and leaving allies alone in the face of a Turkish offensive.

Pentagon chief Mark Esper arrived in Baghdad for talks with his Iraqi counterpart Najah al-Shammari as Washington pulled out troops from northern Syria through Iraq.

Trump said Wednesday that a “small number” of US troops will remain at Syria’s oil fields, despite the broader American withdrawal.

While they back opposing sides, Turkey and Russia have been cooperating to bring an end to Syria’s devastating war.

Tuesday’s agreement said the two countries were determined “to combat terrorism in all forms . . . and to disrupt separatist agendas in Syrian territory”.

The deal said efforts would also be launched for the return of refugees to Syria “safely and voluntarily”.

Ankara has said some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey can be rehoused inside the safe zone.