February 15-16 Confirmed as Date of Astana Syrian Talks New Round - Zakharova

The next round of Astana talks on Syria settlement will take place on February 15-16, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The first round of the intra-Syrian peace talks was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on January 23-24. The talks resulted in an agreement between Russia, Turkey and Iran on establishing trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire regime in Syria.

The next round of the UN-brokered negotiations on the Syrian reconciliation in Geneva, is scheduled for February 20.

"The preparations are underway, we assume that the meeting in Astana will take place on February 15-16," Zakharova told a press briefing.

She underlined that the talks in Astana were not considered as "taken out of context of the political settlement in Syria".

"It is a part of efforts, joint efforts aimed at the settlement of the political crisis," Zakharova explained.

On Monday, Maj. Gen. Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, the head of the Russian delegation at the Astana meeting, said the next talks were planned for February 15-16. On Tuesday, the information was confirmed by Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov.