VALLETTA /Republic of Malta/, December 5. /TASS/. Russia is talking to Turkey and Iran about holding an Astana Format ministerial meeting on Syria this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
"We are negotiating with our Turkish and Iranian partners on the organization of a ministerial meeting this week," Lavrov said at a news conference in response to a question about whether an Astana format meeting could be held given the developments in Syria’s Aleppo.
On December 2, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced plans to revive the Astana Format and hold a ministerial meeting between Turkey, Russia and Iran as soon as possible to talk about settling the situation in Syria. He also said that he had discussed this issue directly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Syria has been in conflict since 2011. The Astana talks, also known as the Astana format, were founded in 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 several neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo and was awaiting reinforcements. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry’s statement, the army was forced to regroup to protect the lives of civilians and troops and prepare for a counterattack.