On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the leaders of Turkey, Russia, Germany and France would meet in Istanbul in early September to discuss, among others, the agenda of the trilateral summit of Turkey, Russia and Iran on Syria.
Delegations of the Syrian ceasefire guarantor states, as well as of the Syrian government, the Syrian opposition and the United Nations participated in the 10th round of negotiations on the Syrian problem in the Astana format, which took place on Monday and Tuesday in Sochi.
Russian Presidential Special Envoy also said that the summit, slated to take place in Istanbul in September, will mainly focus on the Syrian crisis settlement.
“The issue of the Syrian settlement is likely to become one of the central topics. Probably, the issue of providing [humanitarian] assistance to refugees staying on the Turkish territory will be also covered, since there are 3.5 million of them there,” Lavrentiev, who led the Russian delegation at the Astana-10 talks on Syria in the Russian resort city of Sochi, said.
According to Lavrentiev, the process of returning refugees is also expected to be on agenda.
Moreover, Russia is acting on the Syrian reconciliation in an open manner and in coordination with the Syrian government, respecting the interests of the neighboring countries, including Israel Regime, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syria told Sputnik.
"We are doing nothing behind one's back, we are informing Damascus about all our activities. We are acting jointly because we hope for the full support of Damascus, incumbent authorities on further democratization of the [Syrian] society, launch of the political process and implementation of the constitutional reform," Lavrentiev said in an interview.
Lavrentiev pointed out that Russia was not trying to reach any secret "package deals" in Syria with other countries.
Meanwhile, the first reaction of Washington to Russia's humanitarian efforts in Syria was positive, but it takes time to assess the US response, because due to internal political problems in the United States, the actions of President Donald Trump, somehow correlating with the position of the Russian side, cause rejection in Washington, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syria said.
Washington "is getting into fever" every time when the incumbent president is taking steps, which allegedly correlate with the position of the Russian side, Lavrentiev noted.
"The initial reaction was interested… but, apparently, some time is needed, due to internal political reasons as [such steps]… cause absolute rejection of a certain part of the US establishment. It is not very good, on the one hand, it may be even scary. We will be working on this and look into the situation," Lavrentiev, who led the Russian delegation at the Astana-10 talks on Syria in the Russian resort city of Sochi, said.
The changing situation on the ground in Syria should not influence the activities of the future constitutional commission, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev told Sputnik on Tuesday.
Meanwhille, Russia believes that Israel Regime concerns over the presence of pro-Iranian forces near its border with Syria are decreasing, Alexander Lavrentiev told Sputnik.
"Yes, of course, we are certain of this," Lavrentiev said answering a question as to whether Israel Regime was becoming less concerned over the pro-Iranian units' presence near its frontiers.
SPUTNIK/MNA