ASTANA (Sputnik) — He noted that Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as Jordan and UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, have confirmed their participation at the talks on July 4-5.
"It is expected that the US will also send its high-ranking representative to participate as observers in the next round of negotiations in the Astana process," Abdrakhmanov said.
The minister also added that Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as Jordan and UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, have confirmed their participation at international negotiations on Syrian reconciliation in Astana next week.
"We received confirmation of participation by all guarantor states at the level of the Russian president's and the Russian foreign minister's special representatives, the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey," Kairat Abdrakhmanov told reporters.
Abdrakhmanov added that de Mistura and a Jordanian delegation have both confirmed their participation at the July 4-5 talks in the Kazakh capital as well.
Kazakhstan is expecting a confirmation from the Syrian government and the armed opposition on the participation in the upcoming Astana talks, Kazakh Foreign Minister stated.
"From the guarantor countries, we are expecting the final confirmation of participation of the delegation of the Syrian government as well as of the Syrian armed opposition in the near future," Abdrakhmanov told reporters.
At the latest Astana talks on Syria, which took place on May 3-4, Russia, and Iran alongside Turkey — the guarantor states of the Syrian ceasefire regime — signed a memorandum on the establishment of four de-escalation zones in Syria. The four zones span the northwestern Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, the north of the central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as southern Daraa and Quneitra regions. The monitoring and management of the safe zones is carried out by military personnel from the ceasefire guarantor states.
The eruption of the civil war in Syria in 2011 forced many of its citizens to search for shelter in the neighboring states, including Lebanon, which put additional pressure on the economies of the recipient countries.
Abdrakhmanov stated earlier that the United States' participation at the level of the assistant secretary of state in the talks held in Astana in May showed "the commitment of the new US administration to this process."
