ASTANA, March 16, 2018 – Astana hosted a ministerial meeting of the guarantor states of the Astana Process on Syria attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

In his opening remarks, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov noted that the talks on Syrian settlement launched in Astana in January 2017 with the full support of President Nursultan Nazarbayev provided great opportunities for peace restoration and contributed to a significant reduction of violence and the scale of armed clashes in the country.

“Despite difficulties, the Astana Process has proven to be effective as a platform where all sides to the conflict can express their views and, most importantly, agree on concrete steps. The four de-escalation zones and a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Syria helped reduce the level of violence and enabled more civilians to receive humanitarian aid,” Abdrakhmanov said.

The Kazakh Foreign Minister highlighted that the agreements reached within the Astana Process must not remain on paper and called on all actors to observe the UNSC Resolution 2401 and fully comply with the ceasefire regime to stop the unnecessary bloodshed, that is unfortunately happening, for example, in Eastern Ghouta, for instance “No lasting settlement of the Syrian crisis can be achieved without a direct and inclusive dialogue between the parties,” the Minister concluded.

In his opening address at the plenary session, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Astana format, which was set up by Russia, Iran and Turkey a year ago, proved its significance. “With the start of the Astana Process, the city has become a crucial platform for decision-making on a Syrian settlement, one of the most acute international problems. To speak in a lofty style, when the name of the capital of Kazakhstan is heard in the media, millions of Syrians look to Astana with hope,” Minister Lavrov said.

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey exchanged views on the outcomes achieved during the year since the launch of the Astana Process and outlined further steps to resolve the situation in Syria. Following the meeting, the Ministers adopted a joint statement. A day earlier Astana hosted the first meeting of the Working Group on the Exchange of Detainees and Handover of the Bodies as well as the Identification of Missing Persons established following the eighth round of talks.

On the margins of the meeting, Minister Abdrakhmanov held bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Turkey to discuss the current issues of Kazakh-Iranian and Kazakh-Turkish relations.

The Foreign Ministries of Iran, Russia and Turkey were also received by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.