Putin Stresses Kazakhstan's Role In Resolving Int'l Issues Via Astana Talks - Kremlin

Putin Stresses Kazakhstan's Role in Resolving Int'l Issues Via Astana Talks - Kremlin

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin wished a happy Independence Day on Sunday to his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and emphasized the constructive role that Kazakhstan had been playing in dealing with urgent international issues, including via the Astana-format talks on the Syrian settlement, the Kremlin press service said.

"The Russian president mentioned impressive progress that Kazakhstan had achieved in terms of economic, social, scientific and technical development, and a constructive role that the country had been playing in addressing urgent regional and international issues, including as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and in the framework of the Astana process," the press service said.

The Kazakh capital has been regularly hosting consultations on the settlement of the Syrian armed conflict � the so-called Astana-format talks, which, most notably, led to the establishment of the de-escalation zones in Syria. Ten rounds of negotiations out of 11 took place in Astana, with the latest one held on November 28-29.

Kazakhstan is also serving as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council but will soon leave the body as the country's mandate expires at the end of 2018.