The Syrian Arab Republic delegation headed by Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari held on Tuesday a consultative meeting with the Russian delegation headed by Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Vershinin in the framework of 5th Astana meeting on Syria.
In the same context, the Syrian Arab Republic delegation, which arrived in the Kazakh capital on Monday, also held a meeting with the Iranian delegation headed by Assistant Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari. The Russian and Iranian delegations also held a separate bilateral meeting.
Earlier in the day, the joint work group of guarantor countries (Russia, Iran, and Turkey) held a session.
In a statement to reporters, Lavrentiev said that the 5th Astana meeting aims at reaching an agreement about the de-escalation zones, whose details are being now discussed to be agreed upon.
Lavrentiev said that tripartite consultations are underway with the Iranian and Turkish delegations on the level of experts and after lunch, the delegations will hold expanded meetings on a higher level, noting that this should result in the establishment of de-escalation zones.
He stressed that efforts are exerted now to reach an accord on the criteria and details, describing the stances of the participant delegations and the guarantor countries as “very positive.”
He pointed out to the support provided by the US delegation, which participates on a high level headed by Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones.
The Kazakh Foreign Ministry had announced that all the delegations participating in the 5th Astana meeting on Syria scheduled today and tomorrow arrived in the Kazakh capital of Astana, and that Tuesday will be dedicated to bilateral meetings while a plenary meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Ministry said that all the delegations participating in the negotiations within the framework of the Astana process arrived in the Kazakh capital, including nine representatives of the “armed opposition” and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
Astana hosted four meetings on Syria, and the Russian de-escalation zones memorandum was signed at the last meeting held in May.
Source: SANA
