Another meeting on the Syrian settlement could possibly take place in Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana on March 14-15, while its format and level are being discussed, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said Monday, Sputnik International reported.
Astana has already hosted two rounds of negotiations between Damascus and representatives of armed Syrian opposition groups on January 23-24 and on February 15-16. They were initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed establishing in the Kazakhstan capital a venue for the Syrian peace talks in addition to Geneva.
“Guarantor countries continue to hold consultations on the timing of talks on the Syrian settlement in Astana, provisionally, March 14-15 is the date, which has been announced in Geneva, it remains the same,” Abdrakhmanov told journalists.
He added that during the talks in Geneva, the guarantor states had been informed about concerns of Syrian opposition representatives on a number of questions, including the implementation of the ceasefire regime and the release of war prisoners.
The fourth round of UN-backed intra-Syrian talks between the government and opposition factions concluded on March 3. The next round of the talks will most likely take place later in March, according to UN Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.