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Conflict in Syria

Meetings involving Syrian armed opposition held in Astana

The delegations’ bilateral consultations will be held before the plenary session of the conference on Syria

© AP Photo/Sergei Grits

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Moscow expects Syria talks in Astana to boost peace process in Geneva

ASTANA, February 16. /TASS/. Meetings with the participation of the Syrian armed opposition have got underway in Astana, Anuar Zhainakov, a spokesman for Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, told TASS on Thursday.

"Meetings, including with the participation of the armed opposition, are already beginning," he said, adding that the delegations’ bilateral consultations will be held before the plenary session of the conference on Syria (scheduled for 15:00 local time, 12:00 Moscow Time - TASS).

On February 15, the participants in the international meeting on Syria held preparatory consultations in the run-up to the meeting that is beginning on February 16. They focused on efforts to monitor the ceasefire and the prospects for the intra-Syrian consultations in Geneva due to be held at the end of this month. Representatives of the ceasefire guarantor states, Russia, Iran and Turkey, along with representatives of Jordan, the United States and the United Nations, the delegations of the official Damascus and the armed opposition are working in Kazakhstan’s capital.

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