MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The spokeswoman of the US Embassy in Moscow on Thursday confirmed that it had received an invitation to the forthcoming Syria settlement negotiations in Astana.
19 January 2017, 11:38 GMT
Earlier in the day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said he had extended Kazakhstan's invitation to the United States to participate in the Astana negotiations to US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft.
Spokeswoman Maria Olson told RIA Novosti that the embassy had received the invitation and sent it to Washington.
The intra-Syrian talks in Astana are expected to start on Monday following a ceasefire in the crisis-torn country endorsed by the UN Security Council on December 31, 2016. The negotiations, initiated by Russia, Iran and Turkey, are aimed at establishing a platform for peace negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups.
