UN Representative: Final Statement of Astana on Syria to Be Issued Soon

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, announced on Tuesday, January 25, that the final statement of the Astana meeting is 'in the final stages.' The two-day peace talks on Syria in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, are taking place on January 24 and 25. Fifteen Syrian opposition groups participating in the proposed ceasefire by Russia and Turkey are involved in these talks. The ISIS group and the Al-Nusra Front are not included in this ceasefire. The negotiations are being held with the participation of the governments of Syria, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Staffan de Mistura, the UN representative. The US ambassador to Kazakhstan is also present as a representative of the United States at the Astana meeting. According to AFP, Mr. de Mistura said on Tuesday, 'We are not far from issuing the final statement.' The UN representative added, 'Intense discussions are underway, as the discussion is not about a statement on paper, but about a ceasefire that means saving the lives of Syrians.' However, Yahya al-Aridi, the spokesperson for the Syrian opposition, stated that the opposition will not sign the Astana statement, but rather Turkey, their supporting country, will sign it. According to Yahya al-Aridi, Russia and possibly Iran will sign the statement on behalf of the Syrian government. The Syrian opposition has refrained from direct dialogue with the Syrian government, as they claim the Syrian government is bombing their front lines in the outskirts of Damascus. The government and the Syrian opposition are sitting at the same table in Astana to open a round of talks, but the negotiations are mediated. Hossein Jaberi Ansari, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Sedat Onal, Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister, and Sergey Lavrentiev, the Russian President's representative for Syria, are present in the Astana talks. Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian government's representative at the UN, is also present in the negotiations.