Russia confirms U.S. participation in second round of Astana talks
By Kamila Aliyeva
Russia stated on the U.S. delegation's joining the second round of talks on Syrian settlement to be held in Astana, although the White House is yet to announce its decision.
The U.S. delegation will come as observers to the second round of talks on Syria that is to be held in Kazakhstan’s capital, Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said on February 13, RIA Novosti reported.
"We hope that U.S. representatives will come as observers," Bogdanov said without specifying who will represent Washington at the meeting.
"Last time the meeting was attended by the ambassador,” he said adding that this time their American partners will decide on it.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow hopes to establish closer cooperation with the Trump’s administration over the Syrian settlement.
“We expect to establish close cooperation on Syria, a much more efficient one, with the administration of Donald Trump, considering his absolutely unambiguous approach to terrorism as an absolute evil,” he said at a press conference adding that "this is the criterion that unites all of us."
The delegations of Damascus, Syrian armed opposition, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and representatives of Jordan and the United States have been invited to the forthcoming high-level meeting scheduled for February 15-16, 2017.
Bogdanov noted that Turkey, Iran, Russia, and Jordan will be the guarantors of the meeting.
"We will have the same delegation as for the first Astana talks on January 23-24," Bogdanov said.
President’s special envoy for the Syrian settlement Alexander Lavrentyev will lead Russia’s delegation to the Syrian meeting on February 15-16.
He stressed that “the task remains the same – to consolidate the ceasefire” and confirmed that the same opposition groups are expected to attend the talks.
The forthcoming meeting will discuss the implementation of the ceasefire regime in Syria, measures to stabilize the situation in particular areas, adoption of rules for a joint operational group, and agreeing upon further measures on the consolidation of ceasefire regime, as well as other practical steps in light of the upcoming intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.
On February 6, Astana hosted a technical meeting of experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United Nations with the participation of representatives of Jordan for the first time.
Lavrov explained that the meeting of the Joint Task Force on Syria at the expert level was aimed at discussing practical steps to monitor the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria by the guarantor countries.
In a press conference following the meeting, head of the Russian delegation to Astana Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov said that the participants in the meeting discussed the course of implementing the cessation of hostilities agreement, the special measures towards creating a mechanism of efficient monitoring and control with an aim to ensure an efficient implementation of the agreement and prevention of any provocations.
The participation of representatives of Jordan in the talks is an attempt to further decrease the flow of weapons into Syria as this country used to be a transit country for weapons and insurgents.
The first Astana talks on Syrian settlement brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran took place in the Kazakh capital on January 23- 24. They marked the first time since the beginning of Syrian civil war in 2011 when the government of Syria and the armed opposition sat together at the negotiations table.
The talks resulted in Moscow-Tehran-Ankara agreement on the establishment of a tripartite mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Syria.
Many experts assessed the agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the establishment of a tripartite mechanism as a step to a political solution which might end the six-year war.
Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.
The U.N. has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since its beginning 6 years ago.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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