UN Special Envoy For Syria To Attend Astana Format Talks In Kazakhstan - Nur-Sultan

NUR-SULTAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2021) SULTAN, July 6 (Sputnik) - UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has confirmed his participation in the upcoming Astana format talks on the middle Eastern nation scheduled for July 7-8, the Kazakh foreign ministry told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Kazakhstan's capital of Nur-Sultan will host later this week the 16th round of the Astana format talks, gathering delegates of the belligerent Syrian parties, in addition to the "Astana trio" of guarantor states � Russia, Iran and Turkey. The negotiations are expected to focus on preparations for a session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee.

"UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has confirmed his participation in the upcoming meeting," the ministry said.

The Russian delegation will be headed by Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, the Turkish delegation by the foreign ministry's Director General for Syria Selcuk Unal, the Iranian delegation by Senior Assistant to Iranian Foreign Minister in Special Political Affairs Ali-Asghar Khaji, Syria's government delegation Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Susan and the country's opposition delegation by Ahmad Tomah, the ministry said.

The negotiations are planned to be held in an online format, as the Kazakh capital is currently witnessing a resurgence inCOVID-19 infections, the ministry added.