The summit in Sochi slated for Feb. 14 will bring together Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in their first meeting since the United States announced a pullout from Syria.

In an interview with major Russian media outlets — Kommersant, Ria Novosti and TASS — Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said Moscow wants “the American occupation to end.” For Russia, an ideal scenario would include the handover of US-controlled territory to the Syrian government. These include the eastern bank of the Euphrates, Manbij and the US outpost at al-Tanf hugging the borders of Jordan and Iraq. However, it remains unclear whether the Americans are ready to withdraw from all these areas. The US military base in southeastern Syria and the 55-kilometer (34-mile) safe zone around it raise the most questions from Moscow.

Vershinin and the special presidential envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, are in charge of the Syrian peace process and related talks with the UN and Moscow's regional partners. As Vershinin sees it, the Sochi trilateral summit will consider “the main issue of how to prevent destabilization and chaos amid the US withdrawal and to allow for a smooth control over the process.”

It seems certain that the Americans will not hand over control of their military bases and the Iraqi border to the Syrian government. In choosing their successors, the Americans will opt for either Turkey or the Kurds. Being more in favor of the latter, Moscow — in every possible way — has been encouraging a dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus. As long as the dialogue continues, Russia will try to prevent Turkey from mounting a new military operation against the Kurds on Syrian soil. Vershinin made clear that the presence of the Syrian army around Manbij, which Ankara lays claims to, and Russian patrols of the districts around the city were a signal of intent of sorts.