When speaking to reporters on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin commended the consultations in Istanbul between Moscow and Ankara as useful.
“I would like to point out that we held useful and good consultations that are part of progressing bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the Turkish Republic. It’s first and foremost about political dialogue. The consultations concerned a wide range of issues, including UN Security Council reform and the way we see the United Nations’ role in the new world, as well as specific aspects of interaction between our delegations in New York and on other international platforms. This particularly includes the situations in Afghanistan, Libya, Palestine and the Middle East. All these issues are considered in New York occasionally and they certainly are of great interest both to us and Turkey,” Vershinin emphasized.
According to the Russian deputy foreign minister, the parties also discussed the issue of Syria. “As for resolving the situation in Syria, it was discussed in detail, from the standpoint of ensuring progress toward a sustainable and lasting solution in Syria based on the well-known UN Security Council Resolution 2254. We talked about the need to fully restore the territorial integrity and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic. In this regard, we have always supported the dialogue that goes on between Damascus and Kurdish representatives,” Vershinin added.