Next Astana format meeting to be held in Sochi July 30-31 - diplomat

UNITED NATIONS. KAZINFORM The next Astana format meeting that will involve three Syrian ceasefire guarantor nations (Iran, Russia and Turkey) will be held in Sochi on July 30-31, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told reporters on Friday.

"It will be held in the last two days of July, that has essentially been agreed, and in the format that we used before, that is, the three guarantor countries, the observer states and the Syrian parties," he said. "I believe the work in the Astana format is a big achievement, and we would like to push ahead with these efforts."

According to Vershinin, an important result of the Astana process is the setting up of the working group on exchanging detainees and bodies of those killed. "This is hard work, but so far the only efforts, which help establish trust between the parties to the conflict," he stressed. "This group held its regular meeting in Ankara recently, and it will continue to work in the future, including, I hope, on the sidelines of the Astana format meeting in Sochi on July 30-31," TASS reports.