Russia, Iran, Syria, Turkey to Hold Deputy FM Meeting in Moscow

Earlier, Russia’s Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, told TASS that preparations for a four-party meeting were ongoing.

Citing Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish state-run TRT TV channel reported on Monday that Moscow will host technical talks involving the four countries to discuss preparations for a meeting of their foreign ministers.

The upcoming meeting follows consultations between the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey in December 2022 aimed at normalizing the relations between Ankara and Damascus.

The participants of the meeting agreed to create a trilateral commission.

The top diplomats of the three countries are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the possibility of talks between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

Erdogan previously suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin host a trilateral meeting involving Assad, preceded by a meeting between officials from intelligence agencies, defense and foreign ministers.