By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA (AA) – Confusion surrounded a second round of Syria peace talks in Astana on Wednesday, as Kazakh officials said a meeting had been postponed but Russian sources insisted bilateral discussions would go ahead.
“The opening of the high-level meeting of the Astana process on Syria is postponed until Feb. 16, 2017, 12.00 p.m. (time of Astana),” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry tweeted early on Wednesday.
The meeting was delayed for technical reasons, national news agency Kazinform reported. It also said bilateral talks between the participants had begun.
In comments reported by Russia’s official TASS news agency, a senior official at the Russian Foreign Ministry said there were “no breaks”.
It said delegations would hold bilateral talks on Wednesday and a plenary session would be held on Thursday with the participation of all delegations.
Astana was to host talks on Wednesday and Thursday with representatives of Russia, Turkey and Iran who agreed last month to create a cease-fire monitoring group.
The January meeting in Astana saw the three countries agree a trilateral mechanism for observing and ensuring compliance with a cease-fire which came into effect on Dec. 30.
A UN delegation did not include Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, citing the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed on Wednesday Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and de Mistura would meet on Thursday in Moscow.
