Document on safety areas in Syria to be signed in Astana

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Director of the Kazakh MFA Department for Asia and Africa Aidarbek Tumatov has commented on the outcomes of today's Astana Process on Regulation of the Syrian Crisis, Kazinform correspondent reports.    

“The delegation of the military opposition has left Astana already because all the meetings finished. They met with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and U.S. representatives. The opposition will participate in all the talks tomorrow,” said Tumatov.

According to him, the talks discussed the new Russian initiative and “a new memorandum on tensions de-escalation zones.”

“We hope that the sides will discuss the signing of the memorandum tomorrow. The document will be signed by the guarantor countries. If the guarantor countries approve the document, it will be obligatory for fulfillment by the remaining states,” he added.

“The talks on the situation in reconciled areas are continued. The protocol on ceasefire regime and exchange of captives is also being elaborated. The work on all these documents is underway and we hope for a good result,” said Tumatov.

According to him, the results of this round of talks will be summed up at a plenary session on May 4.

“The Astana Process is in the spotlight of the world now. Its outcomes will directly impact the further talks in Geneva,” he said.

As Tumatov noted, the opposition did not set any preliminary conditions. “In view of the change of the situation, the opposition decided to participate in this round,” he explained.