The reasons why the Syrian armed opposition has refused to come to Astana for the third round of talks on Syria are not convincing enough, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“At the moment, we are looking into the latest news together with our colleagues from the Defense Ministry. The reasons preventing the armed opposition from participating in the current round of the Astana talks, at least those mentioned in the media, are not convincing,” Lavrov said at a press conference following a meeting with his counterpart from the Republic of the Congo.

“They are citing ceasefire violations. These violations have never been brought down to zero, as in any similar situation. It is an absolutely natural process. Some breaches will always occur. What counts most is that the number of these violations has decreased many-fold from what it had been before the relevant agreements were signed at the end of December,” he said.

Source: Interfax