Press Briefing on Astana Guarantors’ Meeting on 29 October 2019

Good evening ladies and gentlemen thank you very much for paying such close attention to the work that we have committed before the beginning of the work of the constitutional committee translation.

Today we meet on the eve of a very important event I'm talking about the convening of the constitutional committee which will take place tomorrow we have held.

A trilateral meeting together with my Iranian and Turkish colleagues and after that we discussed it in detail with the special envoy of the secretary general for Syria Mister Patterson the main topic for discussion was the work of the constitutional committee you know well that the decision to establish this committee was taken by Syria by participants of the Syrian national dialect Congress in Sochi in January 2019 this Congress.

Was convened upon the initiative of the Astana troika the representatives of which are present here today in this hall after that it took us quite a lot of time and a lot of difficulties to come to this very important event to reach this important event which will be launched tomorrow?

When the interest Syrian direct talks will be launched and it is our common view and conviction that this is our huge joint victory but most importantly this is the achievement of the Syrian nature the Syrian people it is not the achievement of a Syrian?

Party or any side it is the achievement of the whole Syrian nation both the government the opposition and all citizens of Syria we have emphasised that the most important thing the fundamental thing is to ensure implementation of 2254 resolution in particular as refers to the need to ensure the political process that will be carried out by the Syrians themselves and which will belong to the Syrians themselves and all the external stakeholders.

Should create the most conducive environment to make sure that it is in this course this process can take place and so that the Syrians for the support of the special envoy of secretary general Mister federsen could find some common points and understanding it is clear that the constitutional committee on itself is not capable of dealing all with all the problems?

We need some parallel steps to be taken to deal with humanitarian issues in the Syrian Arab Republic this goal should be met without politicisation without discrimination without any preconditions we need to create all the necessary conditions for the return of refugees and internally displaced persons back home today ladies and gentlemen we distribute the tax of a trilateral.

Statement made by ministers of foreign affairs of Iran Turkey and Russia this statement confirms our full adherence to territorial integrity of Syria it confirms.

Our line at dismantling terrorism in all its manifestations and this country we also confirm our zero tolerance for any separatism on the territory of Syria we also welcome in the statement the beginning of work of the constitutional community we _that launching this mechanism has reconfirmed that there is no military solution for the Syrian conflict we also express our.

Support for the work of this committee we urge the sides to reach agreement and we support the efforts of the special on board the secretary general to facilitate this process we also express our hope that participants of the constitutional committee will be guided by the willingness to achieve a compromise will coverage constructively and will not be subject to any external interference and the work of this committee should be based.

On without should work without any artificial time schedule and it should be based on broad consensus and at the end of the statement we emphasise the importance of the need to deal with humanitarian issues throughout the whole territory of Syria and we also emphasise the need to establish the environment conducive to the return of refugees and internal displaced persons I sincerely thank my colleagues for our continued operation in the.

We have agreed to continue our dynamic efforts to cooperate with all the parties of the Syrian conflict in order to establish durable long standing stabilisation on the ground to eliminate the remaining hotbeds of terrorism to fix the humanitarian situation and to achieve progress in the political process thank you thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Priority to end the Syrian conflict has been the has been always the facilitation of viable political solution this should be through our United Nations mediated say Syrian LED and Syrian owned process in line with the resolution 2254.

In all our consultations with other Astana guarantors and the United nations we advocated the launching of a credible constitutional committee here in Geneva after long and intense work hard work the committee will start working tomorrow with this major step the Astana format proves once again that it is.

An effective international initiative and it delivers results as foreign ministers of tastana guarantor states we met today with UN special envoy for Syria Mister Patterson and we stress that the committee will have our full support all stakeholders have an interest in ensuring smooth functioning of the committee.

If this can be ensured the committee might pave the way for comprehensive political change in Syria it is the only way to establish lasting peace stability and security today we had the opportunity to coordinate our efforts on the ground as well the continuation of the relative calve in Italy will prevent further bloodshed?

It will also create an environment conducive to progress on the political track ladies and gentlemen contrary to allegations from certain circles the operation peace supreme will bolster prospects for the political process this is because the PYDYPG is a terrorist organisation with a separatist agenda.

Our operation contributed to the preservation of serious territorial integrity and political unity these are the principles on which our political solution must be built as we emphasise at the joint communique that Sergey Lavrov just mentioned.

We are also keen on the returns of the refugees and the returns must be safe and voluntary international law and standards must be respected coordination with the United nations is crucial Turkey is particularly interested in efforts for preparing the necessary conditions to facilitate returns we believe that around.

2,000,000 Syrians can return to terror free areas in Syria with international support ladies and gentlemen intense cooperation and coordination among the Astana guarantors and the UN were of critical importance in achieving.

A breakthrough in the political process as Astana guarantors we are determined to continue to work together in the period ahead of us as well therefore once again thank you very much spinler Rahman Rahim very good evening to all of you distinguished friends it's a great pleasure and honour for me to participate in this press conference and.

On to be with you on the eve of this important development for 8 and a half years the people of Syria have suffered great loss because there was no consensus on a self-evident truth and that is there is no military solution to the crisis in the in Syria and we all need a political solution.

Tomorrow the start of that political solution is being witnessed by the international community thanks to the effort of the Astana guarantors as well as the effort of the secretary general and his special envoy whom we support fully and we will engage and have engaged completely in the past several months in order to make sure that we will see the coming into fruition of the process of.

The constitutional committee which is being launched tomorrow but that's the beginning that's not the end of the process it's just the beginning of a very difficult process which is going to be.

Extremely challenging to manage it must be Syrian owned and Syrian LED it's much it must be viable and seen as such by the Syrian people it must be acceptable to the Syrian people at the end of the day and it must be the fruit of the work of the Syrian people.

It should not be seen by the Syrian people as foreign inspired or foreign LED or foreign influence and these are what the 3 guarantors are committed to do while we are committed to continue to be engaged to continue to be available to the parties as well as to the special envoy of the United nations we also commit ourselves not to intervene in the process in a way to make it anything other than Syrian LED.

And Syrian owned process it is important to address other challenges but we should be careful not to overwhelm the constitutional committee the constitutional committee has an important task.

To revise and modify the current constitution improve it and make it acceptable to all Syrians but there are other works that needs to be done the Astana guarantors are following those including humanitarian issues exchange of prisoners and detainees and.

Abductees so these are important issues to to address it is also important that the refugees return voluntarily and safely to the original phrases of residents people want to go back to their own homes.

We do not want to create a new situation of people living elsewhere it is important that all of us insist on the territorial integrity of Syria we believe that the territory of Syria should be controlled by the government and the military and armed forces of Syria and they should be responsible for providing security to Syria and to the neighbours of Syria we believe.

We believe that there should not be any ****** against any of the neighbours of Syria emanating from Syrian soil and that is the position that we have always held but we believe that should be done by the Syrians and we are ready to help and cooperate with Russia and Turkey in.

Implementing the agreement at Sochi to make sure that the process goes smoothly we are at a very challenging moment but a hopeful moment and we should keep the hope up for the Syrian people we should allow this process to come to fruition we should not be too anxious or too.

Demanding from this process we should give it time and we should all help the international community should all help there is no other game in town the international community should all come to the help of this process and we have committed ourselves just now to get Peterson that we will be available to provide all the help that we can thank you.

Good evening everybody Maria finocchin RT international first question for dear Mister chaosha gloom Mister Erdogan and Mister Putin agreed on a 150 hours ceasefire when the Kurdish forces withdrawal complete withdrawal from 30 kilometre wide safe zone along the Syrian Turkish border with deadline earlier today is Turkey satisfied with how it went and.

If we heard from Turkey earlier that that is a permanent ceasefire does that mean we're not going to see any military operation on the border anymore and since the situation east of the Euphrates is now better what can we expect next can we expect Turkey to help Russia and Syria resolve the Idlib province problem now and a question for dear Mister Lavrov?

Is Russia satisfied with the situation at the border and with the fact that US withdrew from Syria leaving some troops in oil areas Russia has always been saying that America is not legally in Syria it hasn't been invited there and now we hear them talking openly about their economic interests in the devastated country is that legal thank you very much?

Thank you very much for your question you know we reach an understanding with United States to ensure a safe zone and to withdraw the PKKYPG elements from the areas that that we have been conducting operations and after that.

Thanks to the leadership of president Erdogan and Putin and thanks to a good collaboration from our host in Sochi Sergei Lavrov and his colleagues we reach an understanding and we share the memorandum that we agreed so according to this understanding of memorandum all the YPGPKK elements.

Should leave from the from Euphrates river to Iraqi border in a depth of 30 kilometres and as of today Russian side inform us that PKK YPG elements left?

And of course we have to believe our Russian partners we have been working together to stabilise Syria for many many years and together with Iran as well but on the other hand we cannot trust the terrorists I think all of us have understood on the ground including Americans I believe.

That PKKYPG terrorist organisation is not a reliable one it was a big mistake of United States to engage with those terrorist organisation from the beginning therefore as we agreed we halted to operation but in that area.

In north eastern part of Syria if we see any YPGPKK terrorists we will not hesitate to take action to eliminate of them Idlib is an area that we have been also working we have Idlib memorandum again we reach that understanding in Sochi once again Sochi played very crucial role in our efforts together all together so.

The situation on the ground is relatively calm but maintaining the calm and the ceasefire is so crucial for the political process as well which is seriously starting tomorrow so we will continue working together with Astana guarantors to maintain the calm and to pave the way for the political solution in Syria thank you very much.

As far as the action is concerned in the Syrian Arab Republic well of course these actions catravene international law the United States and members of the coalition headed by the United states is in Syria on illegal grounds this contrary to the position of the legitimate leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic the fact that after the statement on withdrawal.

Of all armed forces of the US from Syria a couple of days later a statement followed that those forces would stay in Syria when those who were transferred to Iraq began to return back to Syria under the pretext of protecting.

Will deposit from the Islamic state I think it's just a pretext even more so since in March the US leadership stated publicly that the Islamic state has been defeated totally defeated and destroyed but if we talk about the situation as such this?

Is illegal police actions are illegal and in the United states there is a expert discussion now underway about how to assess the current development and the expert and the experts voice the views that we totally agree with and they quote the decisions of international courts on similar situations the essences that any illegal exploitation of natural resources of a sovereign state without its consent?

Is illegal and that is the view that we share and our US colleagues are perfectly aware of our position and we will defend that position Nissan found all the Turk shred and television corporation TR tabar?

I have a question to our Turkish foreign minister so this is the first Syrian constitutional committee gathering here in Geneva do you think it will succeed what kind of result is expected from this meeting thank you well I want to believe of course and we all believe that only through.

Dialogue and engagement between the regime and opposition Syria can reach lasting peace and stability and security in the country so launching the constitutional committee is very crucial.

And very courageous step and we have spent almost a year actually to enable the launching of the constitutional committee it has not been very easy and it will not be easier starting from tomorrow so it will be a difficult process so but if all sides agreed to work or if they have the culture of working together.

Instead of seeing each other as enemy I believe that the Syrian LED Syrian on process can reach lasting peace and stability in the country so I'm optimistic but we are not naive and we are aware of the difficulties and as Astana guarantors we will continue extending our support and assistance to process thank you last question.

Hi my name is rahid Abraham from Al Arabiya I actually have the same question for the 3 of you if that's OK Mister Peterson always says that there are 5 armies in Syria which complicates the political process well one of them has left the USI would like to know when would Turkey and Russia and Iran retrieve their armies from Syria thank you.

Well it seems that the United states is staying to protect the oil and at least president trump is honest to to say what the United states intends to do Iran and Russia are there on the invitation of the Syrian government and we intend to stay there as long as the Syrian government and Syrian people want to want us to be there.

I leave the question on Turkey to our Turkish brand no yeah well since it's from the right to the left now I will just add that the social agreements both on Idlib reached a year ago and agreements of October 22nd on the border between Turkey and Syria were approved by the government in Damascus by President Assad personally.

And by Kurds therefore our understanding is that the activities that we are talking about now are aimed at achieving peace and ensuring sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic I cannot recall any similar assessments made with regard to actions taken by the US-led coalition.

It is true that we are compelled to work with those who are there on the ground the so-called deconfliction is in place our military keep in touch but I do not think that the presence mentioned by my colleagues and the presence.

That is regulated by our agreements by Sochi agreements can be compared in any way to illegal presence of the US coalition and with the arrogant statements related to this presence that it is needed to protect the oil breach the oil deficit of the Syrian Republic protect these oil deficits against Syria Arab Republic itself and I haven't heard any complaints about.

By Assad about the presence of 5 armies in Syria we have not heard any complaints of such kind as we also emphasise today at our joint statement you will see maybe you have already seen we are all committed to territory integrity and the political unity of Syria as Turkey we clean the territories of Syria at the other side of our border.

From terrorist organisation from both daesh and YPGPKK and at the same time they were posing a ****** to Turkey as well and our right has been emanating from the article 51 of UN charter as well as UN Security Council resolutions several of them and the other agreement between Turkey and Syria.

At this moment the Syrian regime is not capable to implement the adana agreement that's why our friends on my right are helping us to facilitate the adana agreement as well so these are the territories of Syria and president Erdogan repeatedly emphasised this and in Italy we have the observation post.

That is also the according to the agreement or memorandum that we reach in Sochi I mean Italy memorandum so when times come that the Syrian regime at the end of this political process is capable enough to protect the it's countries territories and eliminate the terrorist organisation from that.

I think all the territories should be handed over to Syria this is the territory of Syria and we are very committed very much committed to territorial integrity of country.

Holland.