UN Special Envoy, US Officials Invited to Observe Syria Talks in Astana

ASTANA (Sputnik) — He said earlier in the day that Russian, Iranian and Turkish diplomats and envoys have confirmed their participation at the negotiations scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

“At the recommendation of the guarantor countries, UN Special Envoy for Syrian settlement Staffan de Mistura, his representatives, representatives of the United States and Jordan have been invited as observers,” Abdrakhmanov told reporters.

Speaking of Jordan, the minister reminded that during the technical meeting in Astana in February, Jordan ensured the presence of the representatives of Syrian armed opposition groups active near the Jordanian border in the south of Syria.

“That’s what we, including guarantor countries of Russia, Turkey and Iran, are interested in – for the issue that is being discussed in Astana, the issue of truce and the ceasefire regime, [to be joined by Jordan],” Abdrakhmanov said.

The third round of intra-Syrian talks in Astana is taking place on March 14-15, with the consultations to be held on the first day and the plenary session to take place on Wednesday.

The previous round of Astana talks took place on February 15-16, with the participants agreeing to set up a ceasefire monitoring group, encompassing Iran, Russia and Turkey, that would report to the United Nations.