Iran and Russia, the two backers of the Syrian government engaged in a fight against a six-year-old foreign-backed militancy, discussed arrangements ahead of a new round of Astana talks due to start this Tuesday.
This is the fifth round of the talks, which are aimed at securing a lasting ceasefire in the war-ravaged Arab country to open the way for political settlement of the conflict.
Iran’s chief negotiator in the talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin met in Tehran on Saturday to exchange views on documents defining the borders of the so-called de-escalation zones in Syria, their control and operation procedure.
The two countries, along with Turkey, a backer of the Syrian government’s armed opponents, signed a deal to establish the zones in Syria in the previous round of talks early May.
The three countries, which are guarantors of an ongoing ceasefire covering most of Syria, are to hold consultations in Astana on Monday, a day before the meeting begins.
Representatives from the Syrian government, the armed opposition and observer states will also attend the talks.
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