The quadripartite meeting of the foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey began on Wednesday in the Russian capital of Moscow

” We stress the necessity of preserving Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and the necessity of restoring state control over all of its lands, “, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a speech at the beginning of foreign ministers quadripartite meeting.

He voiced his country’s hope that the current meeting of foreign ministers would contribute to drawing up a road map for restoring Syrian-Turkish relations to normal.

Lavrov said, “Based on joint efforts and meetings at the level of defense ministers and deputy foreign ministers, we have reached tracks to realize a meeting today, and we hope that our talks will contribute to setting a road map for restoring the Syrian-Turkish relations to normal by the date of the next ministerial meeting, to be submitted after that to our heads of states, which opens new possibilities for the Astana formula regarding the settlement of the crisis in Syria and positively affects the situation in the region and the Middle East in general.

Lavrov added that this roadmap includes several principles supported by the Astana platform, the most important of which is respect for Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, respect for all participants of the United Nations Charter, as well as maintaining friendly neighborhood relations. We also on close cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms and joint action to combat separatist movements backed from abroad, affirming the rejection of the illegal military presence of the United States on Syrian territory, its plundering of its resources and its support for separatist militias in northeastern Syria.

Lavrov clarified that the Americans started to form terrorist groups in the vicinity of Raqqa, with the participation of Daesh and other terrorist organizations, with the aim of using them to destabilize the situation in Syria in violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, pointing out that the defense ministers of the four countries discussed this issue recently.

Lavrov affirmed Russia’s rejection of the illegal, coercive Western economic measures imposed on Syria, which destabilize the economy and impede the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need, particularly in the aftermath of the earthquake catastrophe, which did not push the United States and Europe or pressure them humanely to lift the sanctions on Syria, stressing at the same time the necessity of lifting them and the necessity of the international community ‘s contribution in facilitating the return of refugees and displaced people to their cities and towns, this is a priority and a basic principle for Russia, Syria, Iran and Turkey.

“Each of these principles opens up several areas of work for us, and today they will be outlined in a road map and set standards for time plans for the implementation of these principles.” Lavrov said.

He pointed out that the road map must reflect the stances of all parties, particularly Syria and Turkey, including restoring the Syrian state’s control over all its lands, ensuring border security in coordination with Turkey, in addition to reopening logistical transportation routes and resuming economic cooperation without any obstacles.

Lavrov voiced his country’s welcome to the resumption of the participation of delegations of the Syrian Arab Republic in the meetings of the Council of the League of Arab States and the reopening of most Arab countries’ consulates and embassies in Syria, noting that Saudi Arabia played an important role in this field.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency