The 17th round of Astana talks on Syria begin in Kazakhstan

This morning, the 17th round of Astana talks on Syria have started with the participation of the sponsoring countries, opposition delegations, the Assad regime and the United Nations.

The current round of talks will focus on ending the ongoing ceasefire violations by the Assad regime in northwestern Syria, according to the head of the opposition delegation, Ahmed Toma.

The Turkish Anadolu Agency stated that the talks will focus on the current situation, the transfer of humanitarian aid, the launching of the Syrian constitutional committees works in Geneva, the exchange of prisoners, the release of hostages and further confidence-building measures.

For his part, the Russian envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, clarified that the 17th round of Astana talks will address developments on the ground and the ceasefire.

The sponsoring countries of the conference will participate with high-level personalities, The Turkish delegation is headed by the foreign ministry’s Syria Director General Selçuk Ünal while Russia is being represented through the country’s special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Iran by Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior adviser to the Iranian foreign minister on special political affairs, and the Syrian opposition by Ahmet Toma.

Delegates from Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq are participating as observers, and the Deputy International Envoy to Syria Khawla Matar is also participating in the current round.

The work of the current round will continue until tomorrow, Wednesday, and include bilateral and tripartite meetings between the participating delegations.

It is noteworthy that the 16th round of the Astana talks ended on July 8.