MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. Moscow has planned a number of meetings on settling the situation around Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing.
"Currently, our country is interacting with our partners, with guarantor states, as you can see from reports both on the Foreign Ministry and Kremlin websites. And a number of meetings are still in the works," the diplomat noted.
"As for the specific elements of this situation, I would like to draw your attention to an interview of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with an American public figure (Tucker Carlson - TASS). Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov spoke extensively on this subject and all assessments will be given," Zakharova added.
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) carried out a large-scale attack 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 the positions of government forces. The Syrian army launched an operation to repel the raid. On November 30, the country’s armed forces’ command stated that the army was carrying out strikes on the positions of terrorists who had managed to infiltrate many neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo. 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.