Russian deputy foreign minister said on Friday, that Moscow will hold a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Iran and Turkey much earlier in next year to discuss the Syrian civil war and conflict, amid the United States President Donald Trump announcement of withdrawal or its US troops from Syria.
According to news reports, Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted as saying: “It’s our turn to host the summit … around the first week of the year. This will depend on the schedules of the presidents.”
Following the announcement, the meeting would be the latest step in the Astana peace process, which was once settled up in the earliest of 2017 by the governments of both Russia and Iran, who has supported the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the opposition backer Turkey.
According to reports, the Astana peace process was established after Russian military intervention in Syria that has tipped the balance in Syria’s capital Damascus regime’s favour. It has gradually overshadowed an earlier UN-sponsored agreement framework, which was known as the Geneva process.
The last meeting between Russian president, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was held in September. Moscow’s announcement of holding a meet between three nation’s leaders comes after the shock announcement of Trump’s decision to withdraw its troops from Syria.