7th Round of Astana Talks on Syria Slated for Late Oct.


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The seventh round of an international meeting in the city of Astana to resolve the crisis in Syria will be held on October 30-31, the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said in a statement.

"As agreed by the countries acting as guarantors of the ceasefire, the seventh international high-level meeting on Syria as part of the Astana process will be held on October 30-31, 2017," the statement said, the Tass news agency reported.

The sixth round of the talks was held in Astana on September 14-15.

Egypt has received an invitation to join the talks as an observer, an Egyptian source said recently.

"Egypt has been invited to take part in the Astana process as an observer," the source said. "Egypt is expected to join the negotiations."

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Ansari had said following the sixth round of the talks in Astana that the guarantor countries of the Syrian truce (Russia, Iran and Turkey) were holding consultations on sending invitations to new observers of the Astana process.

Russian Presidential Envoy for the Syrian Settlement Alexander Lavrentyev said that China, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon could act as observers.