Sputnik - Fatih Hassoun, a representative of Syria's armed opposition, said Sunday that the opposition groups consider Russia's new invitation to attend the Syrian settlement talks in Astana in May as a chance to improve the situation on the ground in the war-plagued country.





MOSCOW (Sputnik)�� The Syrian armed opposition has received an invitation to�attend the Syrian settlement talks in�Astana in�May and neither of�opposition groups has voiced against�participation in�the negotiations, Hassoun told Sputnik on�Sunday.

"We have received an official proposal, and there are arguments in�favor of�participation in [the] Astana [talks]. We have not heard a demand not to�go [to Astana] from�any leaders of�the [armed] groups. Vise versa they consider new Russia's proposal as�something that could improve the situation on�the ground. There are no strong voices opposing attending [the talks]," Hassoun said.

Hassoun stressed that the people of�Russia and Syria have a strong connection "since the start of�forming of�the Syrian Arab Republic."
"We hope that Russia would be a guarantor of�the [settlement] process, not its party," Hassoun added.


On Wednesday and Thursday, Kazakhstan's capital is expected to�host the fourth round�of talks between�Damascus and the Syrian opposition. The Asian city has already hosted three rounds of�talks brokered by�Russia, Turkey and Iran, held on�January 23-24, February 15-16 and March 14-15. Washington has participated as�an observer in�the previous rounds of�Astana talks.