Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad said that “there are currently no negotiations on the normalization of relations between Damascus and Ankara”, explaining that “there are also no contacts at the level of the two foreign ministries of the two countries.”

In an interview with Sputnik, he stressed that “Turkey’s non-commitment is an obstacle to the Syrian settlement process within the framework of Astana”, stressing that Astana is the only viable structure for resolving the Syrian conflict.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow supports the idea of ​​organizing a meeting between the foreign ministers of Syria and Turkey and is ready to help in holding it if necessary. Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov noted that “Russia believes that the meeting will be useful. It is about establishing contacts between the two sides. At present, contacts are taking place between the two sides at the military and intelligence levels … and Moscow is encouraging them to do so.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently confirmed that he is ready to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, if the latter were present there.