Russia Hopes for Progress at Intra-Syrian Talks in Geneva on July 10

MOSCOW- Russia hopes that the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva will progress on July 10 after meetings in Kazakhstan’s Astana and Hamburg, Russian Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS on Saturday.

“That meeting in Geneva will be held after contacts over Syria in Astana and at G20 summit in Hamburg, where certain detailed discussions and contacts useful for the intra-Syrian settlement could also take place,” said Bogdanov, who is also a deputy foreign minister, according to the Russian agency.

 Apart from that, the diplomat confirmed that Moscow was hopeful that a next round of Syrian talks in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana would take place on July 4-5.

“Yes, we have suggested these dates, and apparently everyone is favoring this,” the diplomat said. “But the hosts are our Kazakh partners,” Bogdanov said. “We expect that everything will be prepared and everyone will be able to come.”

Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana has hosted several rounds of intra-Syrian talks. Delegations of Russia, Iran and Turkey, which brokered a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, take part in the negotiations alongside the Syrian government delegation and representatives of the “Syrian armed opposition”, the United Nations, United States and Jordan.

H.M