The high-level Astana peace talks meeting on Syria will be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in the beginning of August, followed by a summit in Turkey, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Wednesday.

Iran Press/Europe: "The very beginning of August will see a regular Astana peace talks international meeting on Syria held in Nur-Sultan. We have some new developments, namely representatives of Lebanon and Iraq will take part for the first time as observers, in the same status as Jordan," he said answering a TASS question.

"This is a new and important element. The Astana peace talks summit in Turkey will be held after the Nur-Sultan meeting," Tass reported. "We need specific agreements to consolidate them at the highest political level during the summit," Bogdanov specified.

The envoy also answered the question on how the Idlib situation is resolved, particularly in the context of shelling of Turkish watch posts. "Military colleagues are in constant contact with all the invested parties, naturally with Syria, Turkey, Iran and the United States." "They [the military] are monitoring the developments on the ground.

The key task is to eliminate the terrorist presence from the Syrian territory, from the Idlib zone, swarmed by tens of thousands of terrorists," he said. Earlier, Turkish President’s spokesman Inrahim Kalin announced that the trilateral summit of Russia, Turkey and Iran on Syria will be held in Turkey in August.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country. 203

 

Read More:

‘Astana trio’ agree to boost efforts aimed at Syrian constitutional committee

New round of Astana talks take place early February

New round of Syrian talks kicks off in Astana