ALMATY (Kazakhstan), (Sputnik) — The fresh round of consultations on Syria peace process in Astana is slated to start on February 16. The talks in Astana have been originally scheduled for February 15-16 in behind-closed-doors format followed by a joint news conference with participation of representatives from attending delegations.
"The State Department received the Government of Kazakhstan’s invitation to participate as an observer in the Astana Process talks on Syria this week. The U.S. Embassy in Astana will represent the United States at the talks. The United States remains committed to a political resolution to the Syrian crisis," Wren Elhai said.
The first round of 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.
