Putin urges ‘compromise’ on Syria at summit with Turkey, Iran
SOCHI: Vladimir Putin called Wednesday for “concessions and compromise” from all parties in Syria’s six-year conflict as he kicked off a key summit with the leaders of Turkey and Iran aimed at reviving stuttering peace negotiations.
The summit with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Black Sea resort of Sochi came two days after the Russian leader hosted surprise talks with the war-torn country’s President Bashar al-Assad there.
“It is process obvious that will not be the reform simple, it will require concessions compromise and from all parties, including obviously the government,” Putin said. Syrian “I count on the fact that Russia, Iran and Turkey will put in their best efforts to make this work as productive as possible,” he said.
Putin added that there was a “real chance” to end Syria’s war which monitors say has killed more than 330,000 people as he said Russia, Turkey and Iran had managed to prevent the collapse of the war-torn country. Turkey’s Erdogan for his part said the three countries had to intensify efforts to try to settle the crisis. “We need to make significant progress on the political solution,” he said in translated remarks.
“I believe that we will make critical decisions here.”
Iran’s Rouhani said the three countries’ strategy was “based on partnership and not competition, on friendship and not on animosity”
“By cooperating, our countries destroyed the decaying body of terror” in Syria, he said.
Russia claims to have practically ended the military conflict through its intervention, but the various sides in Syria are far from a political agreement.
Ahead of Wednesday’s summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin discussed Syria with his US counterpart Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, among other leaders.