MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. A meeting of the Astana format countries on Syria is currently being worked out, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS, commenting on the information about the gathering scheduled for Friday in Doha.

"The issue of the meeting is under discussion," the diplomat said in response to a related question.

Syria has been in conflict since 2011. The Astana talks, also known as the Astana format, have been ongoing since 2017, with 21 meetings held to date. The Astana format includes Russia, Iran, and Turkey as guarantor countries in the process of resolving the Syrian crisis, alongside representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, the United Nations, and observer countries: Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.

On the morning of November 27, the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (banned in Russia) launched a large-scale attack on a broad front in northern Syria. According to a statement by the Syrian Armed Forces’ Command, the terrorists attempted to attack villages and towns under the protection of the Syrian army and military facilities, continuing to target government forces' positions. The Syrian army launched an operation to repel the raid.

On November 30, the country’s armed forces’ command stated that the army was conducting strikes on the positions of terrorists who had infiltrated many neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo and was awaiting reinforcements. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry’s statement, the army was forced to reorganize its forces to protect the lives of civilians and troops and prepare for a counterattack.