Russia to discuss next Syrian committee meeting with UN envoy — Kremlin envoy

NUR-SULTAN, July 7. /TASS/. During the high-level meeting on Syria in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan, Russia will discuss holding the sixth session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters on Wednesday. "We will hold a detailed discussion about continuing the work of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva. As you know, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy Pedersen has arrived here. We will continue discussions with him about this issue, and about the need to hold the sixth session of the Constitutional Committee," he said. In Lavrentyev’s words, all grounds and preconditions for another Constitutional Committee meeting are already in place. He went on to say that the delegations that arrived to Nur-Sultan are to discuss many other pressing issues as well, including from the perspective of the recent presidential election in Syria. "Naturally, we are very concerned about the situation on the ground, primarily in the Idlib de-escalation zone. We will certainly discuss the important question of building a constructive dialogue between the Syrian democratic forces and Damascus," the diplomat said. "Undoubtedly, the question of the unfavorable situation taking place in the Al Tanf area up until now also deserves attention. Still, militants remain there in fairly large numbers, destabilizing the situation in the south, southeast, and southwest of Syria," he added. About the negotiations An international Astana format meeting began in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan on Wednesday, and will continue on Thursday, with the participation of the guarantor nations (Iran, Russia and Turkey), the Syrian government, and the armed opposition. The United Nations, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq will attend the meeting as observers. The participants will discuss the situation in Syria, the international humanitarian assistance to the country, perspectives for resuming work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva, and the confidence-building measures, including the release of hostages, and a search for those missing in action. Read more