Geneva talks on Syrian crisis postponed to February end: Russian FM

Russia says the next of round peace negotiations, which were planned to held between the Syrian government and opposition groups early in February, have been postponed to the end of next month.

“The date of February 8 has been put back until the end of next month,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a meeting with Syrian opposition groups on Friday.

The upcoming negotiations, which are to be hosted by the United Nations, will follow two-day talks held between Syria’s warring sides in Astana, Kazakhstan, earlier this week with the mediation of Iran, Russia and Turkey.

At the end of Astana talks on January 26, Iran, Russia and Turkey agreed on the establishment of a trilateral mechanism to support the ceasefire in Syria and monitor possible violations.

Russia wants ‘long-term’ cooperation with Iran, Turkey

In another development on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed hope that Moscow’s cooperation with Turkey and Iran on the Syria crisis would be long-term.

Prior to the Astana event, Moscow, Tehran and Ankara had helped pave the way for a countrywide ceasefire deal between Damascus and opposition groups. The agreement does not apply to the Takfiri Daesh and Fateh al-Sham terror groups.