ASTANA, May 18. /TASS/. Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry is actively preparing for a high-level international meeting on the settlement in Syria scheduled for mid-July, Kazakh Foreign Minister, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, told a news conference on Thursday.
"We continue to work actively with the countries acting as guarantors of the Astana process. It was agreed at the previous meeting as part of the Astana process and enshrined in the relevant memorandum signed by the guarantor countries - Russia, Turkey and Iran - that the next round of the negotiations is scheduled for mid-July this year," Abdrakhmanov said.
Kazakhstan’s top diplomat noted that an expert-level meeting is to take place in Ankara prior to that. "This schedule is observed. We are actively preparing for the next round to make sure that we can make a specific contribution to the implementation of the above-mentioned memorandum, which envisages the establishment of four de-escalation zones in Syria and further consolidation and expansion of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities in Syria," the minister said.
On May 3-4, Kazakhstan’s capital Astana hosted the fourth international high-level meeting on the settlement in Syria. Taking part in the talks were delegations of the Syrian government and the armed opposition, the guarantor countries of the ceasefire (Russia, Turkey and Iran) and high-level representatives of the United Nations, Jordan and the United States.