21 Dec 2017 09:32

Number of participants in Astana process on Syria won't grow for now - source

ASTANA. Dec 21 (Interfax) - The Syria truce guarantor countries (Russia, Iran and Turkey) have decided not to broaden the list of participants in the Astana process for now, a source close to the talks told Interfax on Thursday.

"A large number of parties are willing [to join the talks in Astana]. But the three countries have made a decision at this point not to increase the number of participants because the Turks want one group of [new participants] to join, the Iranians want others, and we want someone else. If all of them are gathered, there could be a situation similar to that in Geneva, where a lot of people, the group of friends are present, but they cannot decide anything," the source said.