US Delegation Invited to Talks Between Damascus, Syrian Opposition in Astana

The delegations of Damascus, Syrian armed opposition, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and representatives of Jordan and the United States are invited to the forthcoming meeting on Syrian settlement in Astana, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The first intra-Syrian peace talks in Astana were held on January 23-24, resulting in Moscow-Tehran-Ankara agreement on establishment of a tripartite mechanism to monitor the Russian-backed ceasefire in Syria, embroiled in a civil war since 2011.

"The capital city of Kazakhstan will host another high-level meeting as part of the Astana Process on Syria on February 15-16, 2017… Also invited to the meeting in Astana are delegations of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, the Syrian armed opposition, and the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, as well as the representatives of the US as observers," the statement said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the next round of Astana talks on Syria settlement will take place on February 15-16.