Russian Lawmaker Says Astana May Become Permanent Platform for Syrian Talks

Astana may turn into a fixed venue for the future meeting of the Syrian opposition and Damascus since other platforms did not yield any noticeable results, Alexei Pushkov, member of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, told Sputnik on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Vitaly Naumkin, Russian political adviser to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, said that Astana could become a permanent platform for further negotiations on Syrian settlement.

"[Naumkin's] statement reflects de Mistura's assessment of the meeting in Astana, which, despite all its difficulties and contradictions, signified a step forward, albeit a small one, which is a big achievement, because all previous platforms did not lead to any substantial progress," Pushkov said.

On January 23-24, the talks on Syria's crisis settlement took place in Astana, Kazakhstan. The talks brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey brought together the representatives of the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups for the first time since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011.

During the negotiations, the Russian delegation presented to the parties a draft of the Syrian constitution, sending it later to the office of the UN special envoy for Syria. The Syrian opposition also elaborated its own proposals on amending country's constitution.

The Geneva round of intra-Syrian talks under UN auspices was initially set for February 8. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the negotiations would be postponed till late February.