Alexander Lavrentiev made the remarks in an interview with Al Arabiya. 
According to the Russian envoy, there are difficulties relating to the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus, including the Turkish military presence in the Syrian territories, Agenzianova reported. 
As for the reopening of international roads, Putin’s special envoy said that the work is continuing, and that the commitments that Turkey has undertaken, namely to remove the armed factions at a distance of 6 kilometers from the M4 highway continue. 
Lavrentiev then underlined that some difficulties are related to the relationship between Turkey and the groups that control those areas, and this work is quite difficult.
Consultations between the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey took place in Moscow on December 28, 2022, as part of efforts to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus.
The meeting’s participants reached an agreement to create a trilateral commission. A meeting between top diplomats is expected to follow the consultations to discuss the possibility of talks between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Bashar Assad of Syria.
SKH/PR