Kazak foreign minister: Syria peace talks to begin next week

The date for the fourth round of Syrian peace talks in Estana has been finalised, announced the Kazak foreign minister Abdrakhmanov.

Speaking to reporters today, Abdrakhmanov said that the talks will run for two days in the Kazakh capital and the only remaining issue is to set the level of the negotiations.

Syrian peace talks involving the armed opposition and Russia, Iran and Turkey are scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan on 14 March.

Read: Assad regime: Talks agenda agreed, seeks united Syria opposition negotiating team

The three countries also initiated the 30 December ceasefire in Syria.

The meeting was the first multilateral negotiations held between representatives of the three peace sponsors as well as Syrian regime officials and envoys of opposition groups. They met face-to-face for the first time since the crisis in Syria started in mid-March 2011.

The formal title of the Astana talks is “International Meeting on Syrian Settlement”. It aims to support the framework in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which calls for a ceasefire and political settlement in Syria.