The next round of talks on Syria has started in Astana

Negotiations are taking place on June 20-21.On June 20-21, 2023, Astana hosts the next 20th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format. The negotiations are attended by delegations of the guarantor countries - Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as representatives of the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition. The agenda includes the issues of changing the regional situation around Syria and the situation "on the ground", efforts for a comprehensive settlement in the SAR, the fight against terrorism, confidence-building measures, including the release of hostages and the search for missing persons, the humanitarian situation in Syria, mobilization of the international community's efforts to promote post-conflict reconstruction of the SAR and the creation of conditions for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland. On the first day, quadrilateral consultations of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Iran, Russia, Syria and Turkey are expected to be held to discuss the progress of work on the draft roadmap for the normalization of Syrian-Turkish relations, as well as bilateral and trilateral consultations of the participating countries of the Astana process. On the second day, it is planned to continue consultations, a plenary session and a press conference. As part of the negotiations, it is also planned to hold a regular meeting of the working group on the release of detainees/hostages, the transfer of bodies of the dead and the search for missing persons with the participation of representatives of the guarantor countries, the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Americans rely on and support a number of Kurdish organizations that organize such a mini- or quasi-state with their administration there. This is absolutely unacceptable. This is a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria. Of course, we are for solving the problems of the Kurds through dialogue. But, unfortunately, I think that the Americans are not interested in this and their Kurdish allies are not allowed to have a dialogue with Damascus," Sputnik quotes.kz of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov. As the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia noted, the negotiation process should be based on the principles of mutual respect and territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of states. A lot of problems have arisen over the past more than 12 years: the return of refugees, security issues and the joint fight against terrorism. We will solve the whole range of issues. We don't separate one from the other. For example, the return of refugees requires not only the elimination of the terrorist presence. This is also an economic issue, the restoration of the economy, the infrastructure of destroyed cities and villages. This must be done jointly. We also hope for the support of Arab countries," Bogdanov added. He recalled that a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iran took place in Moscow on May 10. We have been instructed to prepare a roadmap for the normalization of interstate relations between Syria and Turkey. We hope we will make progress in this work," he shared.