Kazakhstan sees 3rd Astana round results as tangible contribution to Syria political process - Foreign Ministry
ASTANA. March 16 (Interfax) - The Kazakh Foreign Ministry sees the results of the third round of talks on Syria in Astana as a tangible contribution to the efforts aimed at settling the Syria crisis.
"Kazakhstan assesses the results of the third international meeting on Syria in Astana as a tangible contribution to the process of a political settlement to the Syrian crisis," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday in commenting on the outcomes of the third international meeting on Syria in Astana.
The participants in the meeting discussed the current status of the observance of the cessation of hostilities in Syria, ways to make the trilateral mechanism to monitor ceasefire violations more efficient, a document on districts that have joined the truce, exchange of information on captives, steps toward separating armed opposition groups from terrorist organizations, and the international community's assistance in demining UNESCO world heritage sites in Syria, the ministry said.
"The guarantor countries adopted a joint statement following the two-day talks, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to shoring up the cessation of hostilities, particularly mentioned the role of the Astana process as complementing and bolstering the Geneva talks under the UN auspices, and welcomed their resumption and continuation on March 23, 2017," it said.
The participants in the talks also thanked Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the government of Kazakhstan for organizing the meetings in Astana, it said.
"The parties decided to hold the next high-level meeting in Astana on May 3-4 and agreed to hold preliminary expert consultations in Tehran on April 18-19, 2017," the ministry said.
The third international meeting on Syria was held in Astana on March 14-15 and involved delegations from the Syria truce guarantor countries, i.e. Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as representatives of the United Nations, Jordan, the United States and the Syrian government.