De Mistura stands for further Syria talks in Astana - Kazakh Foreign Ministry
ASTANA. Sept 15 (Interfax) - Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Syria, believes that the talks on the de-escalation of the Syria conflict should continue in Astana, Aidarbek Tumatov, Director of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry's Asia and Africa Department, told the press on Friday.
"Practical measures towards decreasing the level of violence in the de-escalation areas are discussed in Astana, which helps the Geneva negotiations. We realize that peace will not be restored in Syria without the Geneva talks. Therefore, de Mistura underlines the need for further negotiations here, in Astana," Tumatov said.
"I hope that future rounds of the Astana process will also be aimed at reducing violence in this country [Syria] and eventually bringing peace and stability to this long-suffering land," he said.