Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to the 3rd round of Astana talks on the crisis in Syria Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that we are keen to ensure the success of Astana meeting and achieve positive outcomes in a way that serves our higher national interests whether the /armed factions/ attended the meeting or not .

He added that primarily, as a delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic, we did not come to meet the /armed factions / but we came to meet with two guarantors who are Iran and Russia.

We held talks with the Russian delegation on the agenda of the 3rd round of Astana talks and we discussed the political situation in a comprehensive manner, he said.

Turkey should be asked about non-attendance of the armed groups to the negotiation.

Earlier, The 3rd round of Astana talks on the crisis in Syria started in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Tuesday.

The Syrian Arab Republic delegation, headed by Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari held consultative meeting with the Russian delegation headed by Russian President’s Special Envoy Alexander Lavrentiev