Moscow Meeting Offers Bid to Solve Syria Crisis Diplomatically

Moscow Meeting – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran, Russia and Turkey have started the process of finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

There is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and the country’s crisis can only be solved through political approaches, Zarif said in Moscow on Tuesday.

The Iranian foreign minister was speaking at a meeting with his Russian and Turkish counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu, respectively, and members of the three countries’ delegations, which had gathered in the Russian capital to discuss the latest developments in Syria, particularly those concerning the newly liberated strategic city of Aleppo.

At the end of their trilateral meeting, the foreign ministers issued a joint statement on agreed steps to revitalize the political process to end the Syria crisis:

1. Iran, Russia and Turkey reiterate their full respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian, democratic and secular state.

2. Iran, Russia and Turkey are convinced that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict.

3. Iran, Russia and Turkey welcome joint efforts in eastern Aleppo allowing for voluntary evacuation of civilians and organized departure of the armed opposition.

4. The Iranian, Russian and Turkish ministers agree on the importance of expanding ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian assistance and free movement of civilians throughout the country.

5. Iran, Russia and Turkey express their readiness to facilitate and become the guarantors of the prospective agreement being negotiated between the Syrian government and the opposition.

Relatively, in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Moscow on Tuesday, Lavrov stressed the importance of fighting terrorism in an “uncompromising and merciless” way.

He pointed to the assassination of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov in a gun attack in Ankara and said, “We feel that this barbaric crime is a fresh reminder the war on terrorism must be uncompromising and merciless.” Karlov was shot dead while delivering a speech on the opening of a photo exhibition on Monday.

The Russian minister rejected as “absolutely unacceptable” the attempts to connect terrorist attacks to his country’s support for Syria in its fight against terrorism and said such moves are aimed at shielding the militants.

Source: News Agencies