Russia-Turkey-Iran summit on Syria scheduled

The Russian, Turkish and Iranian presidents are scheduled to meet on Syria in February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

"An agreement has been preliminarily reached and there is a basic understanding of holding the next summit next month," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his Kazakh counterpart Beibut Atamkulov.

He did not provide more details, saying that the ministry will make an announcement in due time. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov revealed earlier this month that the summit will be held in Russia.

On the Syrian crisis, the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran last met in Iran in September.

The 12th international meeting on Syria will be held in mid-February in the Kazakh capital of Astana with the participation of delegations of the Syrian government, opposition, Russia, Turkey and Iran, and observers of the United Nations (UN) and Jordan, Lavrov said.

The details of the Astana meeting are being coordinated, he added.

The Astana process was launched by Russia, Turkey and Iran in January 2017 in efforts to bring all warring parties in Syria to the negotiating table as a complementary part of the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.