Diplomat:

Russia, Iran, Turkey Agree on List of Participants in Sochi Meeting on Syria

TEHRAN (defapress) – Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russian president's special envoy for Syria, said Tehran, Moscow, and Ankara have reached an agreement on the list of participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress due to be held later this month in Russia’s Sochi.

News ID: 68194

Date: 21 January 2018 - 11:45

In remarks released on Saturday after a meeting with representatives of Iran and Turkey in Sochi, Lavrentiev said the three countries have agreed on the list of participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, adding that the final formalities may take a couple more days.

He further called the Saturday meeting as “successful” and said, “We shall face work to finalize everything, which may take a day or two at maximum.”

Moscow is interested in the UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura’s participation in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, Lavrentiev said, according to the TASS news agency.

“We want the UN representation at the forum (to be) at the highest possible level, and we hope the secretary general will send over to Sochi the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who could participate in the event’s opening,” he noted.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari represented Iran in the Saturday meeting with Russia and Turkey.

On November 19, Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists were flushed out of their last stronghold in Syria’s Al-Bukamal. The city’s liberation marked an end to the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate it had declared in 2014.

On November 22, the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey held talks on the Arab country’s crisis in Sochi, coming up with a plan for the Syrian National Dialogue Congress.

The congress is expected to be held in Sochi on January 29 and 30.