MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. No prospect for a meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan is currently being seen as Russia is working toward a bilateral expert meeting, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said in an interview with TASS.

"No prospect for a meeting between the [two] leaders is currently being seen," Lavrentyev said, when asked whether a potential meeting could take place only after the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria. "We have been gradually working toward holding a meeting at the level of experts and we will gradually progress. But quite an effort will be required for that," he warned.

Assad and Erdogan severed communication in 2011 over critical differences on the settlement of the Syrian crisis, which led to bilateral diplomatic ties being suspended.