The defense ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the future of Syria and the city of Aleppo, Turkish and Russian officials said.
“(The meeting) will be to understand the views of all three sides, laying out where we all stand and discuss where we go from here,” an official from Turkey’s foreign ministry told international media in Istanbul on Monday.
“It is not a miracle meeting, but will give all sides a chance to listen to each other,” the official said.
The meeting, due Tuesday, will coincide with the meeting of the three nation’s foreign ministers, also in the Russian capital.
The Russian military said on Monday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will host his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan and Turkey’s Fikri Isik.
It says they will discuss ways to resolving the multi-year Syrian conflict and fulfilling U.N. Security Council’s resolutions on Syria.
The RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as telling reporters:
“We hope to speak in detail and concrete terms with those who can really bring about an improvement in the situation on the ground, while our Western partners are busier with rhetoric and propaganda and aren’t influencing those who listen to them.”