On December 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had offered to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold a meeting between the leaders of Turkey, Russia, and Syria, which will be preceded by a meeting of the heads of the intelligence services, defense, and foreign ministries, Sputnik reported.
On December 28, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the defense ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey held trilateral talks in Moscow to discuss ways to resolve the Syrian crisis.
"As for the summit of the leaders of the three countries, again there is no date, but January is too early for that, so we cannot say that the summit will take place in January," the minister said, as quoted by a local broadcaster.
Commenting on the recent trilateral defense ministers meeting, Cavusoglu said that the talks were important in terms of reaching an agreement on a road map for the Syrian settlement, adding that the contacts on the issue would continue.
"The meeting turned out to be useful. We believe that interaction with the Syrian authorities is important to reach an agreement that will ensure stability and lasting peace, and these contacts are also important to reach a consensus between the regime and the opposition on the road map [for conflict settlement]," the minister added.
RHM/PR