ASTANA: Kazakhstan said Tuesday that the next talks to try to thrash out a Syria peace plan in its capital Astana may be held in mid-September, after Russia had planned to hold them in late August.
Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry wrote on Facebook that the timing of the talks would be set at a meeting this month between experts from Russia, Turkey and Iran and “provisionally, we could be talking about mid-September.”
The ministry said it was quoting diplomatic chief Kairat Abdrakhmanov’s comments to journalists on the sidelines of a government meeting.
Abdrakhmanov said that the date change was based on “information received from Russia.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in Moscow on Monday that the expert-level meeting would be held “by the end of the month or right at the start of September.”
He did not give a precise date for the full Astana talks. Russia had previously been planning a fresh round of talks in the Kazakh capital in late August.
Earlier peace talks in Astana saw Russia, Turkey and Iran hammer out a plan to establish safe zones across swathes of Syria.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said last week that he hopes to launch “real, substantive” peace talks between the government and a still-to-be-formed unified Syrian opposition in October.
De Mistura has previously hosted seven rounds of largely unsuccessful talks in Geneva, with the fate of President Bashar Assad standing out as a main obstacle to progress.
Syria peace talks in Astana postponed to September: Kazakhstan
Syria peace talks in Astana postponed to September: Kazakhstan
Safety of Jordanians a priority during regional conflict, says country’s crown prince
- He visits Civil Defense Department and is briefed on the work it is doing to manage emergencies and protect lives and property amid attacks by Iran
LONDON: The safety of citizens is a priority for authorities in Jordan amid regional tensions, the country’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah Al-Hashimi said on Wednesday as he visited the Civil Defense Department for a briefing and iftar event.
He stressed the importance of keeping pace with the latest developments in civil protection systems and taking every opportunity to enhance the skills of Civil Defense personnel, the royal court said.
The department, which operates under the Ministry of Interior, has been working to manage emergencies and protect lives and property amid a barrage of missiles and drones launched by Tehran in recent days in response to attacks on Iran by the US and Israel. The strikes have targeted civilian and military areas in Jordan and other countries in the region.
During his visit the crown prince was greeted by Maj. Gen. Obeidallah Maaytah, director of the Public Security Directorate, and Brig. Gen. Nasser Sweilmeen, the Civil Defense director, and briefed on the work of the Civil Defense Department, the systems it uses, and the ways in which it is responding to the regional conflict.
In addition to firing missiles into Israel, Iran has targeted US forces at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and other American military sites in Gulf countries. Military personnel and civilians in several countries have been killed or injured by missiles or falling debris.
