Russia warns against attempt to undermine Syria peace plan

Moscow, April 29: The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran have issued a joint warning that they would not tolerate any attempt to undermine their plans to de-escalate and eventually bring about an end to the civil war in Syria.

Sergei Lavrov, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mohammad Javad Zarif are the top diplomats for the three guarantors of the Astana peace efforts, a negotiation process distinct from that being held by the United Nations in Geneva. Lavrov told the press during Saturday’s meeting that Russia, Turkey and Iran signed off on some concrete steps towards a solution in Syria but warned: “At the same time, we have made it very clear that we will confront any attempts to undermine our cooperation,” Efe news reported.

Russia and Iran both back the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey lends its military support to the Syrian armed opposition, who nowadays are largely confined to northern provinces of the country near the Turkish border. Recent US-led airstrikes against alleged chemical weapons factories following a suspected chemical gas attack near Damascus prompted ire from Damascus, Moscow and Tehran. (IANS)