Russia, together with Iran and Turkey, is preparing the agenda for the next international high-level meeting on Syria in Astana format, the dates of which are shifting due to the coronavirus pandemic, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
The diplomat stressed that the Russian Federation is in favor of maintaining the proven effectiveness of the Astana format to help resolve the crisis in Syria and appreciates the level of cooperation between the three countries - guarantors of this process. "Due to the new wave of the pandemic spreading, the dates of the 15th international meeting on Syria have to be shifted on this site," she said.
"We are trying to take advantage of the forced pause to think together with our partners about how to saturate the Astana meetings not only with new specific topics but also to discuss the possibility of overcoming existing problems so that the content of this meeting becomes not only rich but also effective and constructive. [Think about] how to give them additional impetus, including by activating the working group on the release of detainees, hostages and prisoners, the transfer of bodies and the search for missing persons," Zakharova said.
Moscow, Tehran and Ankara are guarantors of the Astana process to normalize the situation in Syria. The previous high-level meeting in Astana format was held in the capital of Kazakhstan on December 10-11, 2019. The next meeting was scheduled for March this year but was postponed due to the pandemic.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS