Second day of Syria peace talks begins in Astana

A seventh round of peace talks aimed at ending the Syria conflict entered their second day on Tuesday in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.

The talks, which will focus on strengthening a cease-fire that came into effect on Dec. 30, are brokered by Turkey, which backs the opposition, and Russia and Iran, who support Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The two-day meeting will also addresses the release of prisoners and hostages, and humanitarian action on mines.

Representatives of the Syrian regime, armed opposition groups, the three guarantor countries, as well as delegations from the UN, Jordan and the U.S. are attending.

A Syrian opposition source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said the delegation met Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov at his office early Tuesday.

Russian Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev told Russian media that Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants to meet the three guarantor countries.

The Turkish delegation is chaired by the deputy undersecretary of the foreign ministry Sedat Onal, while Lavrentiev leads the Russian team and Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari heads Iran’s delegation.

A joint statement is expected to be released later Tuesday after a plenary meeting.

During a previous meeting in September, the parties in Astana agreed to the boundaries of a final de-escalation zone in the northern Syrian province of Idlib.

At the fourth meeting in the Kazakh capital on May 4, the three guarantor countries first signed a deal to establish the zones.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN.