Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said his country is coordinating with Iran, Turkiye and the Syrian regime regarding a date for the meeting at the level of deputy foreign ministers, adding that no agreement has been reached in this regard.

“We proceed from the fact that the sooner that meeting takes place, the better. But our Syrian, Turkish and Iranian colleagues have work plans and timetables. Since there is no specific date, we will continue to coordinate” he added. Earlier, the pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper said the Syrian regime has refused to hold the meeting in the presence of Turkiye, demanding a set of guarantees from Ankara.

Quoting an informed source, the paper said the demand for “scheduling the withdrawal of Turkish forces from areas in north-western Syria is at the forefront of the guarantees required to agree to the meeting”.

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu explained that the Russian side had asked for the meeting to be postponed under the pretext that it was unable to prepare for it, afterconsulting with the Assad regime.