Russian, Turkish, Iranian leaders to meet in Ankara on Syria

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the Syrian settlement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the Kremlin said Monday. 

The three leaders will discuss measures to consolidate the truce regime in Syria, ensure the operation of de-escalation zones and address the humanitarian problems in the war-torn country. 

This will be the second trilateral summit on Syria after Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani met in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi in November 2017. 

According to the Kremlin, Putin will also hold separate talks in Ankara with Erdogan on Russia-Turkey economic and trade cooperation, particularly in the energy sector, and with Rouhani on bilateral ties and regional issues. 

Russia, Iran and Turkey are the guarantor countries of the intra-Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, a parallel process to the Geneva talks sponsored by the United Nations. 

Supported by Russian troops stationed in Hmeymim airbase and Tartus naval base, the Syrian government forces have liberated most of the country from terrorist groups. But a political settlement of the chronic and complicated crisis remains difficult. 

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said at a rally in the east central U.S. state of Ohio that "We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now." 
It is not clear whether the United States will withdraw its troops from Syria in the near future. Enditem 
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