Consultations On Russia-Turkey-Germany-France Summit On Syria Held Regularly - Moscow

Consultations pertaining to the organization of a summit on the Syrian crisis with the participation of Russia, Turkey, Germany and France are being held on a regular basis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Monday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) Consultations pertaining to the organization of a summit on the Syrian crisis with the participation of Russia, Turkey, Germany and France are being held on a regular basis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Monday.

In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the summit of the leaders of the four countries would be held in Istanbul on September 7, and that the Syrian conflict would be one of the issues subject to discussion. Earlier in August, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting was not on the agenda yet.

"Consultations are being held regularly. There was [Russian President Vladimir Putin's] visit to Germany. Contacts have been established with our French partners; I'm not even talking about our Turkish partners, with whom we have very intensive contacts," Bogdanov told reporters.

Bogdanov added that "interesting and important" contacts with the Turkish side would take place in the near future.

On Sunday, Peskov said that Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had discussed the format of the summit during their Saturday meeting, adding that the Russian leader had called on European countries to support the Syrian refugee repatriation.

Along with Iran, Russia and Turkey are the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire. Russia is also actively supporting refugee returns with help of the recently established Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Refugee Reception, Distribution and Settlement, and providing civilians with humanitarian aid.