Syria Talks in Astana on Friday

The plenary meeting of the sixth round of talks on the settlement of the Syrian crisis, sponsored by Iran, Russia and Turkey, will be held in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on Friday, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry's press service said on Monday.  "We invite you [the representatives of media] to cover the plenary meeting of the talks, which will take place on September 15 in Rixos President Astana Hotel," the press release read, Sputnik reported. The sixth round of negotiations on the Syrian crisis settlement in Astana is scheduled for September 14-15.  In May, at the fourth round of talks in Astana, Iran, Russia and Turkey, the three guarantor states of the Syrian ceasefire, signed a landmark memorandum on the establishment of de-escalation zones, which helped alleviate tension in the conflict-torn country. This week's talks are to focus on working out details of the zones and deployment of peacekeeping forces there.