Astana, SANA- The sixth round of talks on Syria in Astana has kicked off with the participation of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation headed by Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari .

The Syrian Arab Republic delegation held a meeting with the Iranian delegation headed by Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues related to the success of the current round.

The Syrian Arab Republic delegation, headed by al- Jaafari, on Wednesday held two separate meetings with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and the Russian delegation led by Lavrentiev for talks on the agenda of the 6th Astana meeting .

Lavrentiev: Current Astana round is final for establishment of de-escalation zones

The head of the Russian delegation to the Astana meetings on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev said that this meeting in Astana is final for the establishment of de-escalation zones, but the Astana process will continue, because there are still other issues that are to be addressed in the Syrian settlement.

In a press conference in Astana on Thursday, Lavrentiev said that Astana is a very useful platform for coordination of different positions on different aspects of the Syrian settlement, including the political settlement and national reconciliation.

“All these issues are gradually transforming into regular meetings. We all hope that our work that was done in Astana and before it will have a good result tomorrow and provide a basis for further advancement towards peace,” he added.

The Russian diplomat pointed out that the completion of creating documents that will determine the work of the forces monitoring the de-escalation zones and their deployment will be done on Friday, noting that this issue requires precision as there are a lot of details and technical issues that will be worked on after this meeting.

He pointed out that the Russian delegation’s talks with the Iranian and Turkish delegations and UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura were constructive and productive and showed confidence in achieving good results.

Five rounds of talks on the crisis in Syria were held in the Kazakh capital of Astana as all the meetings stressed commitment to Syria’s

sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity in addition to enhancing cessation of hostilities in the country.

English Bulletin