Kremlin closely following Syria talks in Astana - Peskov

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. The Kremlin is closely following the negotiations on the intra-Syrian settlement in Astana, Russian Presidential Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Tuesday, adding that Moscow had not expected the negotiation process to be simple. "Of course, we do follow (them closely)," he said, when asked about the course of the talks, which are not attended by members of the Syrian armed opposition this time. "We believe this is an extremely important negotiation process," Peskov noted. He recalled that the Kremlin had been aware, from the very beginning, that the negotiations would not be easy. "The situation is sometimes exacerbated due to significant differences in the approaches of various participants in the process," he added. "The work continues," Peskov noted. Agence France-Presse (AFP) earlier reported citing representative of the armed opposition groups at the Astana talks and member of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Osama Abu Zeid, that the Syrian armed opposition will not take part in the meeting in Astana on March 14-15. According to the opposition member, that was a sign of boycotting the failure to keep promises related to cessation of hostilities. Astana is holding another international meeting on the settlement in Syria on March 14-15. The plenary session of the international meeting on Syria is scheduled for March 15. Read more