25 June 2017, 10:44 GMT
MOSCOW, (Sputnik) — Russia will continue to work with Turkey in the framework of the Astana consultations on the Syrian crisis settlement and the deescalation zones in Syria, newly-appointed Russian ambassador to Ankara, Aleksey Yerkhov, said Tuesday.
According to Yerkhov, Turkey is Russia's most important partner in terms of the prospects for the settlement of the Syrian conflict.
"This actually confirms how actively we interact with our Turkish counterparts in Astana and around Astana [talks], because Turkey is located directly in this region, the border [with Syria] is more than 900 kilometers [ some 560 miles], the 'burning' land is very close to Turkey," Yerkhov told reporters.
"Of course, we are actively interacting and will actively interact with Turkey, precisely with regard to Astana, these deescalation zones, cease-fire monitoring and much more," the ambassador stressed.
