The Astana format on Syria will continue its work, it has proved its effectiveness, said Russian Presidential Special Representative for the Syrian settlement Alexander Lavrentyev.
"The current Astana format will certainly remain operational. It has proved its viability while the international community's so-called efforts on the Syrian settlement stalled," he said at a press conference following the 20th international meeting on Syria in the Astana format.
Lavrentyev noted that the Astana format was not tied to the place. "It was formally associated with a place, because the Kazakh leadership had agreed to host international meetings including the three guarantors, observers from a number of countries, namely Syria's neighbors: Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, as well as representatives from international organizations - primarily the UN secretary-general's special envoy, Mr. Geir Pedersen," he added.
The special presidential envoy emphasized that Russia appreciated Kazakhstan's hospitality, as they provided a venue for the meetings during the last six and a half years. He recalled that 18 of the 20 meetings were held in Astana, and two were held in Sochi.
According to him, the question of a new venue for the meetings on Syria will be worked out by the ministries of foreign affairs. "The venue for further meetings will be chosen, the decision to hold meetings in this format was made at the level of the presidents of the three countries, <...> this issue will be worked out at the level of the ministries of foreign affairs," he said.
"In the read-out joint statement [of the participants of the Astana format] <...> the last paragraph clearly stated that the next international meeting on Syria will be held in the second half of 2023," Lavrentyev added.
Tougher US position
He also said that Russia, Iran and Turkey were concerned about the US toughening position on Syria. "During working contacts at various levels, we discussed what we are most concerned about is probably the US and other countries of the so-called collective West toughening their position on Syria, which followed the Arab League's decision in Jeddah to restore Syria's membership in that organization," Lavrentyev said.
Astana's decision to close the site
Lavrentyev called Astana's decision to close the platform for talks on Syria unexpected.
"Frankly speaking, it was somewhat unexpected for us today - the proposal made by the foreign ministry of Kazakhstan as they found the Astana platform sufficient and, apparently, expect that we will find another platform to hold these meetings," he said.
Syrian Constitutional Committee's session
The Russian Federation hopes that the session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee will take place soon.
"We hope that the work of the constitutional committee will be resumed and the ninth session will be held as soon as possible, at least within the next two months," he said.
The Syrian Constitutional Committee, formed under the resolution adopted on January 31, 2018, in Sochi by the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue, consists of 150 people (50 delegates each from the government in Damascus, the opposition and civil society). The small group of the committee includes 45 people (15 delegates from each of the three sectors). The committee is called to develop recommendations on amendments to the Basic law of the republic, followed by general elections in Syria under the UN auspices.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Sergey Bobylev / TASS
Based on materials from TASS