Expert-level meetings began Tuesday in Tehran between representatives from Russia, Iran and Turkey, the three guarantor states of the Astana peace process on Syria that's next round is due to be held later this month.
The two-day meeting will discuss issues surrounding the cease-fire and the de-escalation zones, in addition to a number of issues raised by the deputy foreign ministers of the three countries.
Meanwhile, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov stressed on Tuesday that the preparations for the sixth Astana meeting are ongoing, indicating that the talks will be held in late August.
Abdrakhmanov was quoted by Russian agency TASS as saying the agenda of the talks on the settlement of the crisis will be defined at the meeting in Tehran this week.
"As it had been planned before, a meeting of experts from guarantor states will be held on these days in Tehran," Abdrakhmanov said. "The agenda for the next round of talks in Astana will be defined based on the results of this meeting."
“There are no changes regarding the timeframe and we are preparing to hold the talks in late August,” he added.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
