Work is underway to organize a quadrilateral meeting between Turkish, Syrian, Russian and Iranian foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.
The date has not been decided yet due to the ministers' busy schedule, Zakharova told a news conference in Moscow.
Russia's long-standing effort to open a channel of dialogue between Türkiye and the Bashar Assad regime paid off last year, as the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Türkiye, Russia and the Bashar Assad regime met in Moscow on Dec. 28.
The Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers had a brief informal exchange on the sidelines of a regional summit in 2021 and Ankara acknowledged the intelligence contacts.
In November, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said a meeting with Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad was a possibility after having severed diplomatic ties with Damascus throughout the 11-year conflict.
Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decadelong Syrian war.
Turkish backing has been vital to sustaining moderate Syrian opposition in their last significant territorial foothold in the northwest after Assad defeated opponents across the rest of the country, aided by Russia and Iran.
About the U.K.'s plans to deliver depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine, the spokeswoman said such plans pose a "serious threat" to the people of Ukraine and the neighboring countries.
"Despite numerous warnings, London has not abandoned its plans, which we have qualified as malicious. Perhaps they hope that they will get away with such a crime again, like the crimes in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and so on. No, this time, they won't get away with this criminal activity," she stressed.
Commenting on an attack by Armenian forces in the Lachin district of the East Zangezur region on Tuesday, Zakharova said the Russian peacekeepers immediately contacted the responsible persons in Armenia and Azerbaijan and took measures for de-escalation.
Also, Baku and Yerevan accepted Russia's invitation to hold a common meeting on drafting a peace agreement, she added.
"Our efforts to fully assist Azerbaijan and Armenia in the preparation of a peace treaty do not weaken. The partners have accepted an offer to hold another round of bilateral negotiations on our territory. We will inform you about the dates of specific events when all this is finally agreed," she said.
Meanwhile, Russia requested explanations from Armenia regarding joint military exercises with NATO, she said, noting that Moscow will give assessment after receiving a response.
Zakharova slammed Latvia's initiative to introduce an exam on the knowledge of the Latvian language for people of Russian origin, fraught with forced deportation in case of failure.
"Such a xenophobic line of the ruling elite of the Baltic states deserves the strongest condemnation, including at relevant international venues, but at these very venues it is blocked by their Western curators, who have been using the Baltic States as a springboard for Russophobia for many years," she stressed.
The spokeswoman promised that Russia will help people that are discriminated against by the Latvian authorities.
