Syrian Opposition Southern Front Says to Skip Upcoming Astana Talks

The Syrian opposition Southern Front will not take part in the upcoming Astana talks on Syria, Bashar Zoubi, a representative of the front in the Syrian armed opposition delegation, told Sputnik on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The fourth previous rounds of peace talks were held in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 23-24, February 15-16, March 14-15 and on May 3-4. At the latest sessions, the three ceasefire guarantor states signed a memorandum on the establishment of four de-escalation zones in Syria, with the monitoring and management being carried out by the military personnel of these states.

"We will not take part. There are many reasons, we are looking at what is happening on the eastern front," Zoubi said.

The Syrian government and armed opposition delegations have confirmed they will take part in the next round of reconciliation talks in Astana on Tuesday and Wednesday.