Results of First Day of 13th Round of Astana Talks on Syria Positive: Lavrentyev
NUR-SULTAN- Russia’s Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said on Thursday that the results of the first day of the 13th round of Astana talks on settlement in Syria were positive in general, because the talks focused on the situation in the de-escalation zone in Idleb and on the need to continue the fight and uproot terrorist organizations, the Syrian news Agency SANA reported.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Astana talks in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, Lavrentyev said that “the terrorist organizations in Idleb continue to take hundreds of thousands of civilians as hostages and keep carrying out provocations against the Syrian army and attacking civilians, something that should not be allowed to continue”.
The Russian diplomat made it clear that forming a committee for discussing the current Syrian constitution, speeding up the political process, reconstruction and the return of the Syrian refugees home were key issues discussed during the talks.
Earlier, the Syrian Arab Republic Delegation to Astana talks, led by Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari, held meetings with the Russian, Iranian and Iraqi delegations.
Twelve meetings have been held within Astana formula, one of them was held in the Russian city of Sochi. All these meetings stressed commitment to preserving Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity as well as the need to continue the fight against terrorism until is completely eradicated.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrentyev said that Russia welcomes the decision of the Syrian government to establish a ceasefire in Idlib if the Sochi agreements are adhered to and militants retreat from the de-escalation zone by 20 km and remove all heavy artillery from the zone, according to Itar Tass.
Hamda Mustafa