1 May 2017, 13:02 GMT
ALMATY (Kazakhstan) (Sputnik) — According to the ministry, the meeting of military experts from the countries-guarantors was taking place behind the scenes in Astana at 12:30 p.m. local time (06:30 GMT).
"On May 3-4, bilateral meetings between the participants of the meeting would take place behind the scenes. A plenary session and a final press-conference are scheduled for the Thursday afternoon," the statement said.
The statement added that the delegations of the countries-guarantors at the talks would be headed by Russian special presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari.
The fourth round of Astana talks is due to start on Wednesday and is expected to last for two days. The negotiations are expected to bring together representatives of the Syrian authorities and of the country's armed opposition.
