No guarantor meeting set before Syria congress: Russia

Kremlin says no trilateral Russia, Turkey, Iran leaders' meeting planned before Jan. 29-30 Syrian National Dialogue Congress

By Emre Gurkan Abay

MOSCOW (AA) - No meeting between the leaders of Syria's three guarantor countries -- Russia, Turkey, Iran -- is planned ahead of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress at the end of this month, Moscow said Wednesday.

"There are quite intensive contacts at the expert level," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He added that such contacts can be "quite quickly" arranged if necessary.

The last meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and their Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani was on Nov. 22 in Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi, where they agreed to hold the Syrian National Dialogue Congress.

Sochi is the designated venue of the congress, set to be held on Jan. 29-30 with the participation of about 1,700 people.

The congress is expected to be attended by all sectors of Syrian society except for terrorist groups.

Kaynak: