24 Jan 2017 20:32

Kosachyov considers Astana meeting breakthrough in intra-Syrian settlement

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - The Astana meeting on the Syrian settlement is a breakthrough on its own, the Federation Council's international affairs committee chairman Kostantin Kosachyov said.

"Certainly, the meeting in Astana was a great success on its own, because we managed not only to bring representatives of Damascus and an actual armed opposition rather than the political emigrant one face to face, but also ensure meaningful participation of Ankara and Tehran as the guarantors of the process. Those are the two most important breakthroughs, which can be put down to an account of our diplomacy to a great extent," Kosachyov told Interfax on Tuesday.