Syrian Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar said Astana consultations are more effective than the Geneva talks, Russian media reported on Wednesday.

In an interview with Russia’s Izvestia newspaper, Haidar said Astana talks have already brought concrete results contributing to the political process in the country.

“The Geneva format does not stand any comparison to it (Astana platform) in terms of effectiveness,’ Sputnik quoted Haidar as saying in the interview.

The Syrian minister further dismissed statements accusing Russia of trying to undermine the talks in Geneva by means of the Astana process.

“First of all, we do not doubt that Russia is a friendly country to us. It has been supporting the Syrian people from the very beginning. And we believe that Moscow supports any format that can contribute to the settlement of the crisis in Syria, meaning both Astana and Geneva,” the minister said.

The Syrian minister noted meanwhile, that the future Syrian Committee of National Reconciliation “will only be made up of Syrians,” and it will comprise no foreign sides.

The participants in the fifth Astana talks on Syria on July 4-5 have reached an agreement on formation of a Committee of National Reconciliation to halt the Syrian crisis.

So far, four rounds of talks have been held in Astana on establishment of peace in Syria.

In the fourth round of talks, the participating countries and warring sides agreed to create four de-escalation zones in Idlib province, northern parts of Homs, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and the south of the country.

Source: Russian media