Russia's Lavrov says Moscow, Tehran and Ankara want immediate end to fighting in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (C) attend the Astana format meeting at the 22nd Doha Forum together with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Doha, Qatar on December 7, 2024. [Murat Gök – Anadolu Agency]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that he and the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran had agreed in a meeting in Doha that there had to be an immediate end to “hostilities” in Syria, Reuters reports.

Lavrov said Moscow wanted to see dialogue between the Syrian government and what he called the “legitimate opposition” in Syria.

He said the Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham were “terrorists” regardless of whether they said they had changed their views.

It was “inadmissible to allow “terrorist groups” to take control of Syrian lands, said Lavrov.

Asked how the situation in Syria would develop and what would happen to Russian military bases there, Lavrov said he was “not in the business of guessing.”

READ: Russia advises citizens to leave Syria, SDF wants to dialogue with HTS, Turkiye

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