Astana to hold bilateral consultations on Syrian settlement

Russian-Turkish and Russian-Iranian consultations are due to take place today on the sidelines of the Astana talks on Syria, the Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.

"Today intensive bilateral consultations are due to take place, namely between Russia and Turkey, Russia and Iran," Sputnik cited Abdrakhmanov as saying.

Earlier in the day, the intra-Syrian peace talks officially kicked off in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

The representatives of Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as Syrian government and opposition are expected to complete drafting the map of presence of Jabhat Fatah al Sham (former Nusra Front) and ISIS at the fresh round of Astana talks.