Bogdanov, de Mistura eye progress of Syria talks
By Kamila Aliyeva
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed with UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura the issues of promoting negotiations on the settlement of the Syrian crisis in Astana and Geneva, RIA Novosti reported citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The meeting took place in Jordan on March 27, where preparations for the next Arab League summit are being finalized.
"In the course of a detailed conversation, a range of issues stemmed from the task of promoting the negotiation processes in Astana and Geneva, aimed at strengthening the ceasefire in Syria, an effective fight against terrorism and the earliest possible political settlement of the Syrian crisis in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2254 was discussed," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The first round of intra-Syrian Astana talks brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran took place on January 23-24 and gathered together representatives of the Syrian armed opposition and government for the first time. The parties agreed to create a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Syria, which was established on December 30.
The second round of Astana talks took place on February 15-16 and resulted in the agreement of the participants to set up a ceasefire monitoring group, encompassing Iran, Russia and Turkey, that would report to the United Nations.
The latest, third round of Astana talks which took place on March 14-16 focused on the separation of positions of terrorists and moderate opposition in the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, Chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said that cases of open ceasefire breaches continue in Syria.
"The number of violations of the cessation of hostilities is not decreasing, moreover, there are cases of open breaches of the existing ceasefire,” Sputnik reported citing Rudskoy as saying.
He noted that a total number of truce participants has reached 1,397 after 116 settlements joined it in a month.
"The number of opposition units declaring adherence to its observance increased to 200," Rudskoy added.
Rudskoy added that more than 600 militants have "returned to peaceful life using the amnesty announced by the government of the Syrian Arab Republic."
Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel 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 UN has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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