WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States supports an upcoming meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan on settling the Syrian conflict and hopes that the talks will bring the parties to the conflict closer to the negotiations in Geneva, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a press conference on Thursday.
"We are encouraging the meeting in Astana," Kerry stated. "We hope that could produce a step forward… The same objective remains, which is to get to Geneva, where the real meet of the talks is going to take place. I don't think anybody at this point has an expectation, there is going to be some major step forward in Astana, if that takes place."
Kerry underscored that the United States would back any effective methodology that could impact the choices made by the Syrian opposition groups or by the government of President Bashar Assad.
"It is proven to be very difficult [to find solution in Syria], the fighting is continuing. The Assad regime seems to be playing the same card that is was playing previously," Kerry concluded.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev supported the initiative and expressed readiness to provide a platform for such talks in the Kazakh capital.
Russia has pointed out the Astana and UN-backed Geneva negotiations are not rivaling platforms, with the latter set to complement the former.
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