Astana Meeting Results Create Good Conditions for Geneva Talks - Moscow

The Syria talks in Astana created positive conditions for further steps toward reconciliation, the Russian Foreign ministry said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The results of intra-Syrian negotiations in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana created good conditions for upcoming negotiations in Geneva, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday following a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad.

"During the meeting a trust-based exchange of views on the situation in Syria took place in light of the results of the international meeting on Syrian settlement in Astana creating positive conditions for establishing inclusive intra-Syrian negotiation process in Geneva under the aegis of the United Nations. [The parties] also touched upon several practical issues of multi-faceted Russian-Syrian cooperation," the statement said.

The Astana talks on Syrian crisis settlement brought together the representatives of the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups for the first time in the six years of the Syrian war. As a result of the talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire that came into effect on December 30, 2016.

Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.