Putin: Long-Term Stabilization Efforts in Syria Should be Stepped up

President Vladimir Putin has held a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a meeting in Russia’s Sochi.

According to Sputnik, in an extended meeting format during their talks Putin and Erdogan have looked over Russian-Turkish bilateral relations and then discussed the fight against terrorism and the Syrian peace settlement.

The two counterparts have also managed to discuss the regional and international issues, including the recent developments in the Syrian crisis.

Putin agreed that the joint work of Russia, Turkey and Iran as the guarantor states of the Astana process on Syrian peace settlement continued to deliver results. He stressed, however, that the long-term stabilization efforts in Syria, above all in terms of political settlement, should be stepped up.

 “Amid achievements in the fight against terrorism, the president [Erdogan] and I deem necessary to step up joint efforts to ensure long-term normalization in that country… first of all to promote the process of political settlement and assistance for the Syrians in post-conflict reconstruction,” Putin told reporters.

“The level of violence [in Syria] has clearly decreased, favorable conditions are being created for promotion of intra-Syrian dialogue under the auspices of the United Nations,” he also said.

“We believe that the Astana meetings and de-escalation zones have contributed to a certain extent to reduction of violence in this region,” Erdogan told reporters.

H.M