'Waste of Time': Syrian Opposition Doubts 3rd Round of Astana Talks to Be Held

Osama Abu Zeid, a representative of the Syrian armed opposition delegation, said Thursday he assessed the results of the Astana talks pessimistically and did not expect that a third round would take place in this format.

ASTANA (Sputnik) — The second round of Astana talks is held in Kazakhstan's capital on February 15-16. On Wednesday, Russian, Iranian, Jordanian and Syrian delegations held a number of technical meetings.

"The perception that Astana gave absolutely nothing to the Syrian people is being reinforced. This is a waste of Syrians’ time … so I am saying I am very pessimistic and do not expect there to be another round of talks in Astana," he 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.