Work to set up Syria constitutional committee is almost over - Kremlin

MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Work to set up a Syrian constitutional committee is almost over but it is too early to speak about when it will be completed, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if the committee’s establishment could be announced at the Russia-Iran-Turkey meeting set to take place in Ankara in September. "The work is almost over, we are one step away from finalizing efforts to create a Syrian constitutional committee," he pointed out. "As of now, I cannot say if it will be possible to do it by the time of the Ankara meeting," Peskov added. He confirmed that preparations for such a meeting were underway. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier that a trilateral summit on Syria would take place on September 11. Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, in turn, noted that the summit would discuss all aspects of the Syrian crisis, including political and humanitarian issues, as well as the situation on the ground. The first Russia-Iran-Turkey summit on Syria was held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in November 2017. The three leaders said following the meeting that the setup of de-escalation zones in Syria should not undermine the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Trilateral summits also took place in Ankara in April 2018, in Tehran in September 2018 and in Sochi in February 2019. Read more