Status: 07/12/2022 3:17 p.m
Russian President Putin plans to meet with the heads of state of Turkey and Iran next week. The talks in Tehran are said to be about the war in Syria. It is unclear whether the Ukraine invasion also plays a role.
The presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran are due to hold a joint meeting in Tehran next week. This was announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
President Vladimir Putin’s trip is being prepared for July 19 – next Tuesday, according to Peskov. It would be the Russian president’s second trip abroad since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Three key players in the Syrian conflict
According to the Kremlin, the central topic of the meeting will be the conflict in Syria. In addition to talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, bilateral consultations between Putin and Erdogan are also planned. Peskow left it open what this two-way meeting should be about.
Both Russia and Turkey and Iran are important players in the war in Syria that has been going on for more than eleven years. Russia and Iran support the Syrian government under ruler Bashar al-Assad. Turkey is taking action against Kurdish militias, especially in northern Syria.
In 2017, on the initiative of Russia, Iran and Turkey, representatives of the Syrian government and the rebel groups in the Kazakh capital, then called Astana, were brought together for the first time – hence the name Astana format.
Iran apparently supports Russia with drone delivery
It is unclear to what extent the war against Ukraine will be discussed at the meeting in Tehran. Most recently, the United States reported that Iran wanted to deliver up to hundreds of drones to Russia or had already done so. Some of the drones should also be able to be armed. Russian soldiers should therefore be trained in how to use the drones.