MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. A new Astana format meeting on Syria should take place before the end of this year, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters.

"The meeting will definitely take place. By the way, agreements were already reached in principle on specific dates, but then due to changes in work schedules we postponed it a bit. But I think it will definitely take place before the end of the year," said the diplomat, who also serves as Russian president's special envoy for the Middle East and Africa.

The armed conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011. Astana format talks in the capital of Kazakhstan have been held since 2017, with a total of 21 meetings so far. The Astana format includes Russia, Iran, and Turkey as guarantors of the process to resolve the Syrian crisis, as well as representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, the UN and observer countries: Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.