The meeting was attended by the heads of delegations of the participating countries: Alexander Lavrentyev, the Russian Federation, Onal Sedat, the Turkish Republic, Hussein Jaberi Ansari, the Islamic Republic of Iran, observer countries: David Sutterfield, the United States of America, Nauaf Uasfi Tel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Strugar Milos, the United Nations.
The Head of State noted the importance of settling the conflict in Syria and pointed to the high interest of the entire world community in resolving this issue.
- Your work is in the focus of attention of the entire world. A huge number of dead people and refugees has become a loss for humanity. At the request of the Presidents of Russia and Turkey, Kazakhstan provided a platform for negotiations in Astana, the seventh round of which is taking place these days. Everyone notes the effect of this process, the President of Kazakhstan said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed that the Astana process helps increase the effectiveness of Geneva talks.
The Head of State dwelled on the results achieved following the results of the meetings held at the negotiation platform in Astana.
- You have solved the problem of de-escalation of military operations in several regions. Further mechanisms have been developed, and the humanitarian situation has improved. It is important to maintain the ceasefire, the President of Kazakhstan said.
Then the heads of the delegations of the countries participating in the Astana process spoke.
Alexander Lavrentyev expressed gratitude for the opportunity to discuss the interim results of the talks on Syria and gave an assessment of the current situation around the conflict.
- It has been a long time since the beginning of this activity. There are positive results. The de-escalation zones significantly helped to stabilize the situation in the country and create conditions for a gradual transition to the process of political settlement. As part of Astana process, we are trying to ensure strict observance of the ceasefire regime, the head of the Russian delegation said.
In addition, Lavrentyev talked about the progress in working out individual settlement mechanisms and stressed the need to establish a political dialogue on the further resolution of the conflict.
For his part, Onal Sedat, the head of the delegation of the Turkish Republic, noted the special significance of the talks in Astana and expressed gratitude to the Head of State for his contribution to the solution of this issue.
In turn, Jaberi Ansari, the head of the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, focused on the need to continue fight against terrorism and take measures to reduce tensions in the area.
Representatives of the observer countries made the point of the role of Kazakhstan and Nursultan Nazarbayev personally in the process of peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict and expressed gratitude for providing the site in Astana.
Strugar Milos, the UN chief expert-consultant thanked our country for active work in the UN Security Council and stressed the importance of adopting a political decision on the Syrian issue.
In conclusion, the President of Kazakhstan once again expressed his appreciation to all the negotiators for their efforts in establishing peace in the region.
- Any negotiations and a dialogue is a way to the future. We all want this issue to be resolved peacefully. If we do not unite the efforts of all countries and create a common coalition, then it is impossible to defeat terrorism. We are working hard to create the necessary conditions to continue negotiations, the Head of State said.
