Russia, Turkey, France and Germany regularly hold consultations on convening a summit on Syria, Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Monday.
"That (the organization of the summit - TASS) does not depend on us. I believe they (the Turkish side - TASS) did not agree clearly with their European partners," Bogdanov said. "Consultations on the issue have been held regularly. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Germany took place, and we have been in touch with our French counterparts."
"Preparations are underway for another summit, of the guarantor nations (Russia, Turkey and Iran) in Tehran, so we are getting ready for this important event," he noted. "You will learn about that (the date for the summit - TASS) from the Russian president’s press service, because this is a presidential meeting."
Moscow and Ankara will hold important consultations on Syria in the near future, he added. "We have been maintaining intensive contacts with our Turkish partners at all levels. The Turkish defense minister has recently visited Moscow, other important meetings with the Turks will follow in the near future," the senior diplomat added.
On August 17, Moscow hosted talks between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, who discussed ways to rapidly improve the humanitarian situation in Syria and the return of refugees. Besides, the parties also touched upon cooperation between the two countries’ defense ministries.
Representatives of the three guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire (Russia, Iran and Turkey) will hold a meeting with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva in September to discuss the establishment of a Syrian constitutional committee, he added.
"There will be a Geneva meeting between the representatives of the three guarantors of the Astana process - Russia, Iran and Turkey - and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura," he said in response to a TASS question. "The meeting will be held before the United Nations General Assembly kicks off, on September 10-15, but no specific date has been determined so far. We seek to actively assist de Mistura, so we will discuss the establishment of a Syrian constitutional committee," the senior Russian diplomat added.
Participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on January 30, decided to establish a constitutional committee that will work on the country’s new constitution together with de Mistura. The full candidate list will comprise 150 people, including 100 representatives of the Syrian government and domestic opposition, as well as 50 members of the foreign-based opposition. The UN envoy suggested that the committee should consist of no more than 50 members.
On July 30-31, Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi hosted the tenth meeting of the three guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire, who agreed to continue assisting de Mistura’s efforts to set up a constitutional committee and work on the return of refugees to Syria. In addition, a pilot project is about to be launched to help the parties to the conflict exchange lists of casualties, prisoners and missing persons.
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