Alwaght- Kazakh Foreign Ministry says the new round of Astana talks on Syrian crisis that was scheduled for June 12-13 have been postponed to unspecified date.
Speaking to Sputink news on Thursday, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Anuar Zhainakov said, “According to information we’ve just obtained from guarantor states of the Astana process, Russian, Turkish and Iranian representatives will continue having expert-level working meetings in their capitals in the coming days and weeks to examine issues related to the previous agreements on four Syrian de-escalation zones and other issues aimed at strengthening the ceasefire regime”.
Earlier on Wednesday, a source close to the Astana meetings on the crisis in Syria said that so far there’s no guarantee for holding the next Astana meeting on June 12-13 as was planned due to the fact that the outlines of de-escalation zones haven’t been specified yet.
On May 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to set up four de-escalation zones in Syria. Under a memorandum signed at talks in Kazakhstan’s Astana, these four zones include the Idlib province and some parts of neighboring provinces (Aleppo, Latakia and Hama), an area north of Homs, Damascus’s suburb Eastern Ghouta, and a number of provinces in southern Syria - Daraa and al-Quneitra.
In those areas, combat operations, including flights by military aircraft, have been outlawed starting from May 6. The memorandum at the Astana 4 meeting was concluded for six months and can be extended automatically.
The first round of the Astana talks, organized by guarantor states Iran, Russia and Turkey, took place on January 23-24 and brought together representatives from the Damascus government and opposition groups. The second round of the negotiations, similarly brokered by the trio, was held on February 15-16 while the third round was held in mid-March.
UN-brokered talks for Syria had been going on for a long time prior to the Astana talks, but have not borne fruit due to intransigence by Saudi-backed groups.
The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, with the government of President Bashar al Assad blaming some Western states and their regional allies of backing Takfiri terrorists wreaking havoc in the country.
