ASTANA, January 24. /TASS/. The Syrian opposition hopes that military activities in the country will end due to Russia’s role in settling the conflict, head of the opposition delegation Mohammed Alloush told reporters on Tuesday.
According to him, the meeting held in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana marks the beginning of a process aimed at ensuring the ceasefire and implementing humanitarian provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution.
"We would like Russia to continue playing a positive role in establishing peace and in supporting a truly fair political process aimed at settling the situation in Syria," Alloush said.
He pointed to Russia’s growing role in establishing peace in the country.
"We welcome Russia’s willingness to shift from being a participant in hostilities to being a guarantor capable of influencing Iran and Syria. For us, this is a positive step on the way to finding a solution," the head of the opposition delegation stressed.
Female prisoners
The Russian delegation at the talks on Syria in Astana allegedly promised to help Syrian opposition secure release of female prisoners in Syria, representative of the Syrian armed groups, Osama Abu Zeid, told reporters:
"The Russian side promised, first and foremost, to help release female inmates from the regime’s prisons," he said, adding that "the opposition guarantees the release of the regime’s officers and soldiers in return."
"The issue at hand is about 13,000 female prisoners," the opposition member said. "We informed the Russian side that the High Negotiation Committee (of the Syrian Opposition, HNC) earlier sent to the UN data on the location of female prisoners and the prisons they are held in."
Russia, Iran and Turkey adopted the final declaration earlier on Tuesday following meeting in Astana. The document was read out by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister, Kairat Abdrakhmanov.