Kazakh MFA’s statement on outcomes of Third International Meeting on Syria
“Kazakhstan welcomes the results of the Third International Meeting on Syria held on March 14-15, 2017 in Astana, where the guarantor states discussed the implementation of the agreements reached in the previous rounds of negotiations in Astana, as well as the ways to resolve military issues, improving the humanitarian situation, and studied new opportunities for expanding trilateral cooperation on Syria.
Following the results of the two-day talks, the guarantor states adopted the Joint Statement, where they highlighted several important issues as described below.
The delegations of the three countries:
· Took stock of their cooperation aimed at ending the Syrian conflict and the implementation of the ceasefire regime since the previous high-level meeting in Astana on February 16, 2017;
· Welcomed Iran’s statement to officially become the third guarantor-state of the ceasefire regime;
· Reaffirmed their commitment to the consolidation and strengthening of the ceasefire regime;
· Exchanged information on reports of ceasefire violations and stressed the need to reduce violations through increasing efficiency of the trilateral monitoring mechanism;
· Emphasized the urgent need to improve the conditions on the ground through stronger enforcement of the ceasefire regime;
· Continued their deliberations towards the eventual adoption of additional documents;
· In this context initiated discussions on international assistance for demining of the UNESCO cultural heritage sites in Syria, on confidence-building measures and other topics which are interrelated with the comprehensive political solution in Syria;
· Underlined the importance of the essential role for the Astana meetings in terms of complementing and facilitating the Geneva process;
· Welcomed the resumption of the Geneva talks which were facilitated by the progress in the cessation of hostilities in Syria thanks to the ceasefire regime in force since December 30. 2016, and to results of the previous Astana meetings, in particular the creation of a trilateral ceasefire mechanism. Based on the interlinkage between the Geneva and Astana processes they expressed their support for the continuation of the talks in Geneva on March 23, 2017;
· Emphasized that their trilateral meetings will continue at technical and high levels. The Syrian government and Syrian opposition representatives as well as other parties (as observers) could be invited to these meetings;
· Decided to hold the next high-level meeting in Astana on May 3-4, 2017 and agreed to hold preliminary expert consultations on April 18-19, 2017 in Tehran.
· Expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev and to the Kazakh authorities for hosting their meetings.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan reiterates that the Astana meetings are an integral part of the Geneva process under the UN aegis and regards the results of the third International meeting on Syria in Astana to be a meaningful contribution to the process of political settlement of the Syrian crisis on Geneva platform.
As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, Kazakhstan will continue to put its every effort to address the issues related to regional and global security, as well as the fighting against terrorism,” the statement reads.