Russia, Turkey, Iran denounce seizure, transfer of oil revenues belonging to Syria - joint statement

TEHRAN. July 20 (Interfax) - The leaders of Russia, Turkey, and Iran have denounced attempts to seize and transfer oil revenues belonging to Syria.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey issued a joint statement following an Astana-format summit in Tehran.

Russia, Iran, and Turkey, "discussed the situation in the north of Syria, emphasized that security and stability in this region can only be achieved on the basis of preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and decided to coordinate their efforts to this end. Expressed their opposition to the illegal seizure and transfer of oil revenues that should belong to Syria," the statement says.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said following the meeting that the next Astana-format talks on Syria will be held before the end of this year.

"Today we have agreed with our Iranian and Turkish colleagues to continue the practice of regular international expert consultations on Syria in the Astana format. Such consultations, along with the delegations of our three countries, involve the Syrian sides - the government and the opposition, the observer states - Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and also UN representatives," Putin said.

"In particular, it was established that the next, the 19th session of talks, will take place before the end of this year," Putin said.

It is also planned to organize consultations between the foreign ministers of the Astana troika, he said.

A great deal of attention was paid to issues relating to the work of the Constitutional Committee during the talks, Putin said. This entity was created thanks to the coordinated actions of three countries - Russia, Turkey, and Iran, he said. "That helped gather all representatives of the Syrian government officials, the opposition and civil society together, giving them an opportunity to reach agreements on the parameters of the future state system of their country in the form of a direct dialogue," Putin said.

Putin called the meeting between the heads of the states that are guarantors of the Astana process useful and substantive. A substantive discussion on the key aspects of the interaction on Syria was held.

"The adopted statement reaffirms the commitment to strengthening trilateral cooperation between Russia, Iran and Turkey to achieving lasting and viable normalization of the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic. The troika states agree that the Syrian crisis can be fully solved only using political and diplomatic methods with an emphasis on inter-Syrian dialogue," Putin said.