Rouhani, Putin hold private talks in Ankara

Tehran, April 4, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held private talks on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting on Syria. Trilateral talks between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Veladimir Putin kicked off on Wednesday afternoon in Ankara on Syrian developments. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his counterparts from Russia and Turkey Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu, respectively are also attending the event. Earlier today, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was officially welcomed by his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. President Rouhani arrived in Ankara late Tuesday at the head of a delegation to attend the trilateral meeting with his Turkish and Russian counterparts on the latest developments in Syria. The trilateral meeting of Iran, Russia and Turkey on the Syrian situation are scheduled to be held at the level of expert, foreign ministers and heads of states in the Turkish capital for two days. The meeting is the second round of troika talks in continuation of Astana talks and Sochi summit which have been planned to help promote cooperation to find a solution to the civil war in Syria. The participants will negotiate upholding Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and adopt new measures to sustain ceasefire as well as explore avenues for preventing violation of ceasefire in de-escalation zones. The first round of presidential-level talks convened in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in November. 1378/IRNA