Russia hopes for future contacts with Turkey

Monitoring Desk

MOSCOW: Moscow plans to continue cooperation with Ankara aimed at resolving the situation in the Syrian region of Idlib, for this purpose a schedule of contacts is in the works, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

“We expect that in the near future Russian and Turkish representatives will carry on working out a complex solution to the Idlib problem. The other day, the Russian inter-departmental delegation visited Ankara, and now a schedule of regular contacts between agencies is being drafted,” she said.

The diplomat emphasized that “all the de-escalation zones were established as a provisional measure which at no means should undermine the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” should not hamper the fight against terrorist groups,” in case they were “designated as such by the United Nations Security Council.”

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a delegation representing the foreign and defense ministries as well as special services would visit Moscow in the near future. Idlib is the only Syrian region that has been controlled by illegal armed groups since 2012.

A northern de-escalation zone was set up in Idlib in 2017 to give shelter to militants who refused to surrender arms in Eastern Ghouta and southern Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to meet with his German, Chinese and Japanese counterparts at the Munich Security Conference, Zakharova added.

“Work on the schedule [of informal contacts] is in progress. <…> Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and top German diplomat Mr. [Heiko] Maas are expected to take part in a traditional business breakfast with representatives of the German and Russian business communities. A number of bilateral meetings between Sergey Lavrov and his foreign counterparts – German Foreign Minister Mr. Maas, Chinese Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi, the Japanese foreign minister, the Croatian foreign minister <…>, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mr. (Josep) Borrell – are planned,” she said.

According to the diplomat, Moscow continues to receive requests for bilateral meetings with Russia’s top diplomat.

Zakharova added that, during his trip to Munich, Lavrov would take part in a ceremony of awarding the anniversary medal “75 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” to Russian veterans.

The 56th Munich Security Conference will be held on February 14-16. (TASS)