Astana Talks Aim to Strengthen Syrian Ceasefire - Damascus Delegation Head

The ongoing Syria talks in Astana are aimed at consolidating the current ceasefire regime and strengthening of trust between the government and armed opposition groups, head of the Syrian government delegation to Astana Bashar Jaafari said Monday.

ASTANA (Sputnik) — Jaafari has also praised the efforts of Kazakhstan, Iran and Russia, and personally President Vladimir Putin, for the organization of the meeting.

"[The meeting] also aims to cast the seeds of trust, so that the Syrians could jointly resist the terrorist war, imposed upon our country," Jaafari said welcoming the participants of the talks.

The part of Astana talks open for press has finished, with further negotiations between the Syrian government and armed opposition continuing behind the closed doors.

This is the first time Damascus and the armed opposition sit together at the negotiating table since the start of the conflict in the Arab country. Kazakh side expects the meeting to last through Tuesday.