ANKARA, April 4. /TASS/. The representatives of Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria agreed to continue consultations on preparing a meeting between the top diplomats of these countries, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told a TASS correspondent on Tuesday.

"On April 3-4, 2023, four-party consultations at the level of the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkey were held in Moscow. The sides discussed the issues related to the preparations for a meeting between foreign ministers, and each country expressed its stance and opinions in a transparent and open way. In this context, the parties agreed on continuing consultations," the source emphasized.

Consultations between the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey took place in Moscow on December 28, 2022, as part of efforts to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus. The meeting’s participants reached an agreement to create a trilateral commission. A meeting between the three countries’ top diplomats is expected to follow the consultations to discuss the possibility of talks between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Bashar Assad of Syria. Later, it was reported that Iran would join the consultations at the level of foreign ministries.

Erdogan told reporters on December 15, 2022, that he had suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin host a trilateral meeting involving the Syrian president, adding that the summit should be preceded by a meeting between officials from intelligence agencies, defense and foreign ministries.