New Round of Negotiations on Syria to Kick Off in Astana

Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov and UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen (AFP)

The parties involved in the Astana peace process talks on Syria will hold a new round of negotiations next week in the Kazakh capital, according to Syrian and Russian sources on Friday.
The initiative came from the UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, who conducted preliminary rounds of talks with the parties before announcing the date. However, Russia seemed less enthusiastic about this round.
On Thursday, Syrian newspaper al-Watan quoted diplomatic sources saying preparations have been completed to launch the 21st round of the talks, scheduled for Jan. 23 and 24.
The sources added that the Syrian government delegation will be headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Bassam Sabbagh.
According to the newspaper, the latest Syrian developments were discussed during the talks that brought Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Pedersen together on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Pedersen touched on Syria's political, security, and economic situation, discussing his initiatives and proposals for the crisis.
Last June, the previous round of talks in Astana focused on confidence-building measures, which included prisoner issues, improving conditions to facilitate the voluntary return of refugees, and the situation in areas not under the Syrian regime's control.
But the main focus was on the normalization efforts launched by Moscow between Turkiye and the Syrian government.
During the talks, the two parties failed to achieve breakthroughs, especially after the government delegation called for Turkish withdrawal from Syrian territory.
The three guarantor states, Russia, Türkiye, and Iran, stressed in a joint final statement the necessity of supporting the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of refugees to Syria.
They called on the international community to provide necessary assistance to facilitate the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of refugees to their places of residence in Syria and to ensure their right to return and be supported.
- Ending the process
Kazakhstan's withdrawal from the Astana talks after hosting 20 rounds since its launch in early 2017 was the most important and striking element of the former round.
At the time, the announcement raised speculation about ending the process, but the three guarantors announced their commitment to continue the talks without specifying a future date or location for future rounds.
Moscow activated its contacts with Astana following the last round, after which the Kazakh side retracted the announcement.
Russia did not officially announce the arrangements for the new round of negotiations.
A Russian diplomat told Asharq Al-Awsat that Moscow could only welcome any effort aimed at continuing to bring viewpoints closer, reduce tension, and revitalize communications between the parties.
The diplomat acknowledged that Moscow would have preferred not to rush to set a date for the new round of negotiations, especially amid the escalating tensions in Gaza and developments in the Red Sea.
He indicated that Moscow hoped the new round would be preceded by a good level of preparation, aiming to achieve progress."
However, the diplomat stressed that Russia could not oppose the effort made by the international envoy to Syria, which resulted in setting a date and location for this round.
Novosti news agency quoted the Syrian opposition delegation, headed by Ahmed Touma, as saying that the delegation plans to attend the new round of Astana talks after they received an invitation.
Touma confirmed to the Russian Agency his participation in the 21st round of negotiations, adding that their efforts will focus on resuming the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, resolving the issue of releasing detainees, and allowing the entrance of sufficient quantities of humanitarian aid.
The official said they'd also address stabilizing the ceasefire, resuming the political settlement process through the Constitutional Committee, and advancing humanitarian files to create a safe environment for a political settlement in Syria.