Turkey-Russia-Iran to hold Syria talks, while EU hosts donors conference

Russia, Turkey and Iran will hold Syria talks on Wednesday, as the UN, US and EU took part in a crunch donors conference in Brussels.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani will discuss recent developments in Syria via video conference at 11am GMT, the Kremlin said.

They are expected to release separate statements to coincide with the talks.

Turkey, Russia and Iran are key players in the Syria war, creating the so-called Astana process in 2017, partly as a way of ironing out differences between the three countries.

Russia and Iran are key backers of Bashar Al-Assad's regime, while Turkey has provided support to rebel groups and led interventions against Kurdish and Islamic State group militants in northern Syria.

Astana is seen by some analysts as a rival peace process to the UN's but more authoritative given the key roles the three countries play in Syria.

Tuesday's video conference is the first meeting of Syria between the three countries since September, months before a Russian-backed regime offensive on Idlib began and displaced a million people.

Turkey hammered out a ceasefire deal with Russia as the refugees approached its border, which has largely remained in place since March.

The UN is hoping to raise $10 billion at the Brussels IV conference on Tuesday, which brings together the US, EU and other key donors.