Russia Has No Details Over Iran's Plan for Trilateral Meeting With Turkey, Syria - Embassy

TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2020) Iran did not disclose details of its proposal for a trilateral meeting with Turkey and Syria without Russia's participation, press officer of the Russian embassy in Tehran, Andrey Ganenko, told Sputnik.

"No, we have not received," Ganenko said when asked whether there were any details regarding the format of the meeting that Tehran proposed on Saturday.

On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and proposed holding a trilateral meeting with Syria to discuss the situation in Idlib province among other issues. The proposal excluded the participation of Russia in this meeting.

The news comes in light of the escalation of the situation in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib.

The escalation was triggered earlier this week when Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (banned in Russia) began a large-scale offensive against the Syrian government forces. The government forces responded. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Turkish troops who were not supposed to be there were caught in the shelling. There were reports of over 30 deaths and more than 30 injured among the Turkish troops. Russia has swiftly made sure that the Syrian forces stopped the offensive so that the injured and the dead could be evacuated to Turkey. The Russian Defense Ministry has stressed that Russian Aerospace Forces' aircraft were not used in the area.