Russia Hopes Astana Talks on Syria Will Yield Package of Documents on De-Escalation Zones

MOSCOW- Russia hopes that the forthcoming talks on Syria in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on July 4-5 will yield a package of documents on de-escalation zones, Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS on Sunday.

“Meticulous work continues. We hope documents – there will be a number of them, an entire package – on de-escalation zones will be adopted,” he said, adding that the parties to the talks confirm their participation in the forthcoming meeting, according to the Russian news agency.

 “Participation of the parties is confirmed. We expect them to come but so far we don’t know the composition of all the delegations,” he said. “As for Iran and Turkey, everything is clear, as is about the government delegation. But information about the armed opposition delegation’s members is yet to be specified.”

According to the Russian diplomat, the Russian delegation will be led by Russian president’s special envoy on the Syrian settlement Alexander Lavrentyev.

H.M