Russia: Putin to attend trilateral Syria summit with Turkey, Iran
dpa
MOSCOW (dpa)- The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend a trilateral summit next week with the leaders of Turkey and Iran in Ankara on efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict.
The summit, scheduled for Monday, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rowhani, is to focus on Syria's rebel-held Idlib region, which borders Turkey.
Turkey, which supports certain rebel groups, has been seeking to thwart a Syrian state offensive into the north-western Syrian region in an effort to avert the exacerbation of a humanitarian crisis near its border.
Next week marks one year since Russia, which supports the Syrian state, clinched a peacekeeping deal with Turkey for the Idlib region. Iran, an ally of Russia and the Syrian state, has also been involved in efforts to secure civilian safe zones in the war-torn country.
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