Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

A trilateral meeting on Syria between Russia, the United States and the United Nations is scheduled for April 24 in Geneva, a diplomatic source said.

"The meeting has been tentatively scheduled for April 24," TASS cited the source as saying, adding that Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov will represent Russia.

Earlier, Russia' Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that next week, Geneva may host a trilateral meeting on Syria between Russia, the US and the UN.

"A trilateral meeting is planned, we are expecting a confirmation from our U.S. counterparts," he said adding that the meeting may involve deputy foreign ministers or department directors.

Russia and the U.S. have been experiencing tensions in relations since President Trump ordered a missile strike on Syria earlier this month in retaliation for a chemical attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson failed to resolve these tensions at talks last week, which came hours before Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria.

The long-running UN-sponsored Syria peace talks are due to resume in May. The latest round of Geneva talks under the auspices of the United Nations concluded on March 3, with the parties agreeing on a number of separate "baskets" to be addressed during the next rounds, including the issues of governance, constitution, elections and counterterrorism.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since September 30, 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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