Following normalization meetings last year between Syria and Turkey, Moscow will be hosting the deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey and Iran at the beginning of April, according to Turkish and Iranian officials. 

The meeting was originally planned for March but was postponed. According to a senior Turkish official, the meeting will be a continuation of the previously held talks between the parties.

“This meeting is expected to be a continuation of the ministerial-level meetings that began during the normalization process,” the official said, adding that it would be used to discuss the situation on the ground without making any decisions.

“Since there will be no ministerial-level participation and the meeting will be at a technical level, significant decisions are not expected,” the official said.

During the war, Turkey sent its forces into much of northern Syria and backed the Syrian opposition against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Assad said this month that he is unwilling to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan until Turkey declares itself ready to withdraw its entire military from northern Syria and restore the situation to how it was prior to Syria’s multi-sided civil war.

Russia last hosted a normalization meeting between Syria’s and Turkey’s defense ministers in December. Since then, Iran, a Syrian ally, has joined the normalization efforts between Syria and Turkey.  

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