Lavrov: new Astana Troika meeting on Syria should be held in the near future

14 March 2022


The next meeting of the Astana Troika (Russia, Iran, Turkey) on Syria should take place in the near future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a press conference following talks with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.


"Regarding Syria, we are in favor of the full, comprehensive implementation of Security Council Resolution [UN] 2254. We talked about what the Astana format looks like right now. In the near future there should be another meeting of the troika with the participation of observers and, of course, with the participation of the Syrian parties themselves," the minister said.


Lavrov also confirmed that the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee will resume at the end of March in Geneva. "Mr. [Geir] Pedersen, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Syria, was in the Russian Federation recently. I also met with him last Thursday in Antalya. We have confirmed the plans for resuming the work of the Constitutional Committee as early as the end of this month in Geneva," he added.


Meanwhile, the minister noted Qatar's interest in cooperating with Russia and Turkey to help solve humanitarian problems in Syria.


"Of course, it is necessary to build up the urgent humanitarian assistance to Syrians, including the implementation of the so-called early recovery projects, I mean the resumption of electricity, resumption of medical, housing and education services," continued the Russian foreign minister. - "All the members of the [UN] Security Council last July spoke in favor of this, adopting a resolution to this effect. So far, its implementation has been slow, and we are attracting the attention of international leaders and, of course, the attention of donors, who must comply with the call of the Security Council."


The previous international meeting on Syria in the Astana format was held on December 21-22, 2021 in Nur-Sultan.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Creative Commons

Based on materials from TASS