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Syrian constitutional committee must begin work as soon as possible, says Putin

Next expert meeting on Syrian settlement will be held in Kazakhstan’s Nur-Sultan in November

ANKARA, September 16. /TASS/. There is no need to set deadlines for the Syrian Constitutional Committee, however, the process must be launched as soon as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the press conference on the outcomes of the Russia-Turkey-Iran trilateral summit in Astana.

"I wouldn’t set concrete deadlines. However, this needs to be done as soon as possible: launching the committee’s work and achieving a final positive result," the Russian leader said.

"Are there threats? I have listed them already: firstly, possible provocations from the side of extremists, who, to my mind, try to undermine this process. They are not interested in a final regulation, they profit from war," the president noted, adding that the Russia-Iran-Turkey talks exist to alleviate these threats.

"And finally, outside influence is a threat too. We have to let Syrians themselves resolve such sensitive issues as those the country has faced over the last few years," the leader added.

The committee should be launched as soon as possible,  Putin said. "The list of [constitutional] committee members has been fully agreed, with participation of the [Astana process] guarantor nations. Now it is necessary to ensure that the constitutional committee begins its work in Geneva the soonest possible," he said after talks on Syria with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani.

"Russia, Turkey and Iran are ready to spare no effort to promote this process, with the Astana format having the leading role in Syrian settlement," he vowed.

Next expert meeting on Syrian settlement will be held in Kazakhstan’s Nur-Sultan, formerly known as Astana, in November, Putin said.

"The practice of organizing regular expert meetings between delegates from the [Astana process] guarantor nations, the Syrian parties and the United Nations and other regional observers will be continued. The next, 14th, round of such consultations will be held in Nur-Sultan in October," he said after his talks with the Turkish and Iranian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani.