Russia Voices Concern at Activation of Terrorist Groups in Syria: Envoy - Tasnim News Agency

(Tasnim) – Moscow is concerned about the rise of terrorist groups in Syria, not only in the country’s north but elsewhere, Russian presidential envoy for Syria told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are concerned over the activation of terrorist groups recently not only in Syria's north but on the territory of the whole country," Russia’s Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev said ahead of the first day of Syrian talks in Nur-Sultan on Tuesday, December 21.

The Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan is holding the talks in the Astana format today.

According to Kazakhstan, which organizes the event, the parties will review the current situation in Syria, maintaining the peace in de-escalation zones in line with earlier agreements reached during the Astana Process, Sputnik reported.

Additionally, the parties will discuss the prospects of the Syrian Constitutional Committee with a view to give an impetus to the Geneva talks within the United Nations.

The delegations from Iran, Russia, Turkey, the government of Syria, and the Syrian opposition will take part in the negotiations. Representatives of the UN, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq are expected to attend as observers. The consultations in Nur-Sultan will last for two days.

The UN side will be headed by Deputy Special Envoy Khawla Mohammed Ali Matar.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry has yet to confirm that the Iranian, Russian and Turkish foreign ministers will meet in Nur-Sultan as part of the talks. Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi previously said that a meeting of the top diplomats of the Astana format was under consideration.

Negotiations to resolve the Syrian war, which broke out in 2011, have been ongoing in Nur-Sultan since 2017 with the mediation of the guarantor-states of the Astana format (after the former Kazakh capital).