Iran, Russia, Turkiye call for immediate end to fighting in Syria
- 7 December, 11:59
As rebels are making rapid advances in battles against Bashar al-Assad’s forces, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Qatar on Saturday to discuss the situation in Syria.
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan met in capital Doha for talks in trilateral format on Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the three countries have expressed support for “dialogue between the government and legitimate opposition” in Syria.
“We called for an immediate end to hostile activities. We stated, all of us, that we want the United Nations Resolution 2254 to be fully implemented, and for this purpose, called for the dialogue between the government and legitimate opposition,” Lavrov said. The meeting was held in Astana Format in the 22nd Doha Forum.
Russia, Turkey and Iran have been involved since 2017 in the Astana format talks seeking a political settlement in Syria.
However, the situation in Syria shifted dramatically in the past two weeks after opposition fractions lead by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, launched surprise offensive against government forces, capturing western Aleppo city, as well as the cities of Hama and Homs. Thousands of government forces are fleeing from the rebel-held areas.
