Sputnik News- Russia is stepping up its cooperation with Turkey, Iran and other countries of the region to resolve urgent issues in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

According to a joint statement of Russia, Iran and Turkey issued following Syrian peace talks in Astana on Tuesday, the countries agreed to create a trilateral group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire.
"We are increasing cooperation with Turkey, Iran, other regional states to resolve urgent issues of the Syrian crisis. Thanks to the coordinated efforts, primarily via military agencies, it was possible to liberate Aleppo from extremists, then introduce the cessation of hostilities on the basis of the agreement of December 29 last year," Lavrov said speaking in the Russian parliament.


The nationwide ceasefire in Syria backed by Russia and Turkey came into effect on December 30 and was later supported by a UN Security Council resolution.