Moscow, 24 August 2022 (TDI): The Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria, Faisal Mekdad commenced bilateral talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
💬FM #Lavrov: The Russian Federation has been involved in normalising relations between Syria and Türkiye for many years – since the Astana format was set up.
🇷🇺🇹🇷🇮🇷 Russia, Türkiye and Iran are the guarantors of this process.
🔗 https://t.co/Gw4eTFz39r pic.twitter.com/aBq5rIar88
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) August 24, 2022
During the meeting, both the Foreign Ministers had intensive talks on a number of issues. According to Minister Lavrov, “The atmosphere was trust-based and friendly as is our tradition”.
Joint Press Conference
Following their meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Syria also addressed a Joint Press conference on Tuesday. At the conference, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov condemned the Israeli Missile attacks on Syria.
On the other hand, Foreign Minister Mekdad of Syria gave his backing to Lavrov on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a ‘special military operation’ to disarm the Southern neighbor.
During the press conference, Minister Lavrov shed light on the agenda of the bilateral talks between the officials. The Ministers talked about the importance of the Astana Format for the long-term normalization of the situation in the Republic of Syria.
Russia laid emphasis on the need to increase international aid to Damascus for post-conflict recovery. Both the Ministers talked at length about the bilateral cooperation that covers almost the entire spectrum of relations between our countries.
Furthermore, Russia also demanded that Israel honor the (relevant) UN Security Council Resolution, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.
It also appreciated Damascus’ announcement of recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics.
Minister Lavrov also catered to the questions concerning mediation between Ankara and Damascus. He said ‘The Russian Federation has been involved in normalizing relations between Syria and Türkiye for many years – since the Astana format was set up.’
During the press conference, when asked about the assassination of journalist Darya Dugina, Minister Lavrov addressed this as a ‘barbarous crime that cannot be forgotten.’
