Delegations of Iran, Russia and Turkey attending the third round of Syrian talks in the Kazakh capital sat together Tuesday afternoon after bilateral talks. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal are heading the talks in Astana while the representatives of the Syrian opposition groups announced on Tuesday that they wouldn't took part at the process.
During the meeting, the sides conferred on the latest developments in Syria, arrangements for implementation of the current ceasefire, and follow-up measures in regard to Astana process.
Iranian delegation also held talks with the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja'afari on Tuesday night.
Astana has already hosted two rounds of negotiations between Damascus and representatives of armed opposition groups on January 23-24 and on February 15-16, aiming to maintain the ceasefire brokered in December by Russia, Iran and Turkey as guarantors. The third round of talks kicked off on March 14 and wil wrap up on Wednesday, March 15.
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