Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his country’s “understanding” of Turkish security concerns along the Syrian border, saying that the issue of security and Syria's future will be addressed in trilateral talks between Russia, Turkey and Iran in two weeks. 

“We understand Turkey’s security concerns in northern Syria,” Lavrov said alongside his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in a press conference at the end of his visit to Ankara, accusing the United States of “feeding” illegal forces in Syria, alluding to the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers to be an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 

Lavrov also underlined the need to keep alive the Astana talks, which were initiated in 2017 by Turkey, Iran and Russia to bring the warring sides in Syria together to find a political solution to the decadelong war. The next round of talks will be held on June 17 in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, he said. 

Though Ukraine and Syria topped the agenda of the visit, the two ministers said that they have done a horizon tour that ranged from their different positions on Libya, Afghanistan, Turkey-Armenian rapprochement and the Middle East.