By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON (AA) – The British government supports the Syria peace talks set to be held in the Kazakh capital Astana next week, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.
“We support this process because it provides an opportunity to get back to talking about what is a political solution to the conflict,” the spokeswoman, speaking on background, told Anadolu Agency during a weekly press conference.
She said: “These talks have obviously come about following the process by Russia and Turkey, and some of those talks are about cessation of hostilities [under] the UN Security Council resolution that we firmly supported.”
She added, “We have said throughout that ultimately is the way to really bring peace and stability to Syria…We will continue to support that process.”
Negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition negotiators to reach a political solution to the six-year war in Syria are due to begin on Jan. 23.
Following last month's Syria cease-fire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia, the Astana meeting comes as part of ongoing efforts by the two countries to promote a political solution in war-torn Syria.