Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Russia, Iran and Turkey have no plans to carry out joint military operations in Syria.

“We don’t plan to carry out any military operations in Syria that would involve Russia, Turkey and Iran. Russia and Iran are active in Syria at the invitation of the country’s legitimate government. Turkey has been citing its security concerns, but the Syrian government opposes the Turkish military presence,” TASS quoted Lavrov as saying on Sunday in an interview with Vietnam’s national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV), China’s CCTV and Phoenix TV.

Damascus supported the Astana process, which made it possible “to ensure a true ceasefire in most of Syria and launch direct dialogue between the government and the armed opposition,” he noted.

The Astana peace talks were launched on Jan. 23-24, 2017 with the aim of putting an end to the Syrian crisis.

Kazakhstan has hosted multiple rounds of talks on Syria since January 2017, backed by the three power brokers, most of which involved delegations from the Syrian government and opposition.

NA/PA