Russian, Iranian, Turkish forces to control Idlib’s de-escalation zone
"We are very close to the signing of an agreement on the establishment of all four de-escalation zones, but I won't assess this event so far," he said. "I'd like to stress that everyone wants peace to be established on Syrian soil. And everyone realizes, understands and welcomes the entire work that is being done for the establishment of the de-escalation zones," the diplomat added.
All three guarantors of the Astana process over Syria - Russia, Iran, and Turkey - will be involved in controlling of the de-escalation zone in Idlib, the diplomat said. "Participation of monitors from all three guarantor states - Russia, Turkey and Iran is envisaged," he confirmed.
At the same time, Lavrentiev avoided putting the emphasis on specific forces. "Work on this is underway," he said when asked where the contingents of guarantor countries would be stationed inside the de-escalation zone.
It has been agreed to create a trilateral Russian-Iranian-Turkish committee for the four de-escalation zones. "It should be borne in mind that one zone in Syria's south-west was created with Jordan and the United States taking an active part," he said. "This zone will continue to be promoted precisely in this format."
Moscow is hopeful that the fight against terrorists in Syria will be over in the coming months, he added. "Syrian government forces have broken the siege of Deir ez-Zor and continue their offensive towards the positions of the IS (Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia)," he said. "We hope that in the coming months the fight against the groups that support the IS will be over," the Russian diplomat added.
The Russian delegation head stressed that later it would be possible to discuss the need to fight against other groups who seek to overthrow the current Syrian government. "However, we hope that common sense will prevail and the opposition and will adopt a position aimed at finding peaceful solutions to the current issues, as well as points of contact with the central government," Lavrentyev said.
The Kurdish issue plays an important role in the Syrian settlement, but it was not considered at the current round of talks in Astana, he added. "The Kurdish issue was not touched upon in Astana in principle," he said.
At the same time, he added that "this factor plays a very important role in the Syrian settlement." "Certainly, we will consider it at the forthcoming sessions," Lavrentiev said.
According to Lavrentyev, it is still premature to speak about granting the status of UN peacekeepers to observer missions in the Syrian de-escalation zones.
"At the moment, we believe it is premature to grant international status to the observers," Alexander Lavrentyev said. He said, however, that if suggestions come to deploy military police units from other countries in de-escalation zones, "the guarantor states will consider them, as all decisions are taken on the consensus basis," Lavrentyev added.
Members of the UN Security Council need to recognize Iran's right to participate in the Syrian settlement process, he added. "At the moment, there are some members of the global community who do not wish to see Iran take part in the process," he said. "So there is a need for everyone to recognize Iran's right to take part in the Syrian settlement process, as well as in the country's restoration, particularly, in the restoration of the destroyed infrastructure facilities," the Russian diplomat added.
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