Putin says Astana talks lay groundwork for Geneva meeting
By Kamila Aliyeva
Talks on consolidating the Syrian ceasefire held in Kazakhstan this year helped jumpstart the United Nations-led peace negotiations in Geneva.
The ceasefire monitoring mechanism in Syria that was formed at Astana talks last month has laid the foundation toward resuming UN-backed negotiations in Geneva, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 27, RIA Novosti reported.
"A mechanism to monitor the ceasefire has been established, that is, in fact, the most important foundation which provided the opportunity to continue the Geneva talks," Putin said.
He thanked Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev for organizing the Astana talks, stressing that Kazakhstan "has played a very positive role not only as a host and organizer of this event but also influenced the positive results of the meeting in Astana."
Moscow does not rule out an international meeting on Syria after peace talks in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.
"So far we don’t have such plans, although I do not rule it out as it is a very important form of collective efforts but for now we have to, first of all, discuss the plans for the future with our American partners in the framework of International Syria Support Group (ISSG)," he said.
Meanwhile, Russian side also hopes that the Syrian opposition will create a unified delegation at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, according to Bogdanov.
"We hope [to create a unified delegation of the opposition], because, ultimately, they all came there to perform the UN Security Council resolution 2254, and that’s why the common goal is clear, but, as I understand it, each delegation has certain nuances in the interpretation of the resolution," Bogdanov told reporters at the conference on the Middle East, organized by Valdai international discussion club.
He stressed that the task of the negotiation process is to come to a common interpretation eventually.
In January, the first round of talks in Astana 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 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.
---
Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz