Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that diplomacy between Iran, Turkey and Russia has succeeded in averting war in Idlib in northwest Syria.

“Intensive responsible diplomacy over the last few weeks-pursued in my visits to Ankara & Damascus, followed by the Iran-Russia-Turkey Summit in Tehran and the meeting (in) Sochi-is succeeding to avert war in #Idlib with a firm commitment to fight extremist terror. Diplomacy works,” Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that there will be no new military operation against Syria’s Idlib by Syrian government forces and their allies, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

The leaders of Turkey and Russia Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin held a summit in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi

Erdogan and Putin said they had agreed to create a demilitarized buffer zone in Idlib to separate Syrian government troops from foreign-backed militants, with Turkish and Russian soldiers patrolling the zone to “ensure it is respected”.

Asked at a press conference on Tuesday whether Iran was consulted about the Sochi decision, Zarif said: “Yes, Iran has always been at the center of consultations.”

Source: Agencies