Middle East
Flags of Russia, Iran and Turkey are seen during a joint press conference after the trilateral summit between Turkey, Iran and Russia, on September 7, 2018, in Tehran, Iran. Photo: Anadolu Agency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Tehran next week to meet with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ebrahim Raisi to discuss Syria, according to the Kremlin.
"The president's trip to Tehran is being prepared. There will be a meeting of the heads of state – guarantors of the Astana process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, cited by Russian state media, adding that the visit is scheduled for July 19.
The Astana peace process was launched in 2017 by Russia, Turkey, and Iran aimed at ending the Syrian conflict. The 18th round of talks was held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan last month, with the focus placed on Turkish plans to carry out a new military operation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.
Peskov added that a separate bilateral meeting between Putin and Erdogan is also on the visit's agenda, but did not provide further details.
On Monday, Putin and Erdogan discussed the extension of the cross-border mechanism at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing in rebel-held northwest Syria in a phone call, after Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an extension of the aid mechanism for a year.
The vital aid system was later extended by six months.
The White House said Monday that it has obtained information about Iran's plan to supply Russia with "several hundreds" of drones, including those with combat weapon capabilities, to aid in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Putin's upcoming visit to Iran will be his second visit abroad since he launched a full-blown offensive into neighboring Ukraine in late February.
Moscow and Tehran have strong political, economic, and military ties, and are both key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his quest to crush rebel forces in his country's civil war. Ankara has backed the rebels on the opposing side of the conflict.
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