A child walks through rubble of damaged buildings in al-Rai town, northern Aleppo countryside, Syria January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

ASTANA (Reuters) - Parties to the Syrian peace talks in Astana have yet to agree on face-to-face meetings between the delegations of the Damascus government and rebel groups, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko said on Monday.

Speaking just hours ahead of the negotiations, Vassilenko said the matter of direct meetings was still being discussed.