Trilateral cooperation between Russia, Iran, and Turkey is the most effective way to settle the Syrian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Moscow, Teheran, and Ankara have drafted a document aiming to resolve the crisis.
Russia’s foreign minister held a meeting in Moscow with his counterparts, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu of Turkey and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, in Moscow on Tuesday.
“The most effective format is the one that you are witnessing today. This is not an attempt to cast a shadow on the attempts of our partners; this is just statement of a fact,” Lavrov said at a briefing after the meeting.
By comparison, Lavrov mentioned that other formats for settling the Syrian crisis, such as the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), had called for a number of actions to be taken simultaneously, including ceasing hostilities, allowing passage of humanitarian aid, and initiating a political process that involves all parties to the Syrian conflict.
“Unfortunately, the group failed to play its role to force all parties to fulfill all obligations. Our colleagues tried to show the activity in May [2016]…, but then the activity disappeared,” Lavrov pointed out, while noting that “the Russia-Iran-Turkey ‘troika’ has proven with actual deeds that it is in demand.”
“Russia, Iran, and Turkey have been recently taking coordinated steps that have allowed for the safe evacuation of the majority of the civilian population from eastern Aleppo with support of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization,” Lavrov said.
He added that the evacuation will soon be complete – “a matter of one-two days maximum.”