29 Mar 2024
Tuesday 14 February 2017 - 17:11
Story Code : 251157

Iran: Continued ceasefire in Syria main topic of Astana talks

FNA- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari announced that the new round of Astana talks will focus on keeping the all-inclusive ceasefire in Syria in place.

"The necessity for continued comprehensive ceasefire in Syria, coordination to establish stability in the specified regions, studying the actions made by the joint commission, including Iran, Russia and Turkey, which supervises the ceasefire will be among the main themes of these negotiations," Jaberi Ansari told reporters upon arrival at Almaty airport in Kazakhstan.

The second round of Astana talks on peace in Syria will be held in Astana on Wednesday and Thursday at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey.

The Russian foreign minister said on Sunday that Moscow was preparing another meeting between the Syrian government and armed opposition.

Moscow is preparing another contact betweenthe Syrian government and representatives ofthe country's armed opposition, Sergei Lavrov said inan interview withRussia's NTV channel broadcast.

"We are working onthe issue ofpreparation ofyet another contact betweenthe [Syrian] government and armed members ofopposition and we continue toattract additional armed groups tojoin the process," Lavrov said.

Moscow does not make any attempts toreplace the UN-backed Geneva process aimed atreaching settlement inSyria bythe negotiations held inKazakhstan's capital ofAstana, Lavrov added.

"I want tofully clarify one point: we have said atall levels that we are not trying toreplace UN efforts (but toa large extent our initiative was caused bythe fact that it was impossible totolerate inactivity anymore) and we understand that the number ofparticipants intalks fromboth fromparties toSyrian conflict and from 'the external actors' should be bigger thanthe one inAstana," he underlined.

"In parallel withthe Astana process, which we would liketo maintain asa 'driver,' we are preparing forthe talks underthe UN auspices," the Russian diplomat added, reminding that the Geneva talks are expected totake place onFebruary 20.
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