MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. In a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin notified him of results of the Russia-Africa Summit held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.
"Vladimir Putin told [Macron] about the results of the Russia-Africa Summit that has just ended in Sochi, emphasizing that the participants had shaped their determination to strengthen multifaceted cooperation on the mutually beneficial and mutually respectful basis," the statement said.
On October 23-24, the resort city of Sochi hosted the Russia-Africa Summit, co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The leaders of all 54 African countries took part in the event, 43 of them were represented at the top level. Eight major African integration associations and organizations were also involved in the event. Putin held 16 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
Russian President held talks with Macron by phone informing him in detail about the contents of the Russian-Turkish summit meeting held in Sochi on October 22.
"It was emphasized that the decisions documented in the memorandum of understanding approved at the summit have taken into consideration the interests of all sides and will facilitate the restoration of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Emmanuel Macron hailed the agreements between Russia and Turkey," the statement said.
During the phone call made in accordance with an earlier agreement, Putin and Macron pointed out that "in their opinion, the measures stipulated in the Sochi memorandum of understanding will be a good foundation for stabilization in the Trans-Euphrates area and will help solve the Syria crisis in general."
Along with this, the Kremlin said that both presidents were hopeful that the first meeting of the Syrian constitution committee, scheduled for October 30 in Geneva, would be held "in a constructive manner and will bring about tangible results."
Under the resolution passed by the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi on January 31, 2018, a constitution committee was established to draw on a pool of 150 names (50 delegates each to be fielded by Damascus, opposition and civil society). Each group is expected to nominate 15 experts to attend the sessions of ‘a drafting commission,’ which is scheduled to be held behind closed doors in Geneva.
Apart from that, Putin and Macron touched upon certain bilateral issues and agreed to maintain contacts at various levels, the Kremlin added.
On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a memorandum at a summit in Sochi on joint efforts in northeastern Syria. According to the document, as of noon October 23, the Russian military police and Syrian military are to be deployed to the areas adjacent to the zone of Turkish operation in Syria. Kurdish military units are given 150 hours to pull out of the 30-kilometer-deep area along the Turkish border. Afterwards, the Russian and Turkish troops will begin joint patrols in that area.