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Moscow seeks to boost cooperation with allies to resolve Syria's issues

25 January 2017 [17:18] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Nigar Eyvazova

Russia is stepping up its cooperation with Turkey, Iran and other countries of the region to resolve urgent issues in Syria, said Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister.

"We are increasing cooperation with Turkey, Iran, other regional states to resolve urgent issues of the Syrian crisis. Thanks to the coordinated efforts, primarily via military agencies, it was possible to liberate Aleppo from extremists, then introduce the cessation of hostilities on the basis of the agreement of December 29 last year," Lavrov said speaking in the Russian parliament, Sputnik reported.

The nationwide ceasefire in Syria backed by Russia and Turkey came into effect on December 30 and was later supported by a UN Security Council resolution.

The first talks in a year between the two warring sides in the Syria conflict was held in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 23 24. Russia, Turkey and Iran were sponsoring the two day meeting.

In a joint statement of Russia, Iran and Turkey issued following Syrian peace talks, the countries agreed to create a trilateral group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire.

Lavrov further said that the outcome of the latest meeting between the armed Syrian opposition and government delegations in Kazakhstan takes the crisis settlement efforts to the next level.

Russia's draft of the Syrian constitution takes into account the interests of official Damascus, the opposition and other regional players, Lavrov added.

"We have distributed the draft constitution in Astana, which we developed taking into account everything that we have heard from the opposition, the government, and from regional countries over the years,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Iranian Strategic Research Center at the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati said the fact that the Syrian authorities and some opposition groups signed a ceasefire agreement, as well as mulled the transition of opposition groups under the control of the Syrian government in the future, would be a useful step.

"There is a big hope that the meeting in Astana will contribute to further maintenance of the ceasefires" he said, noting that it is not logical to expect the resolution of all disputes in the framework of a single meeting.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/158043.html

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