ASTANA. July 4 (Interfax) - There are plans to sign documents fostering the implementation of the memorandum on de-escalation areas in Syria at the fifth Astana round of the Syria settlement talks, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.
"All final documents, in case they are coordinated by the guarantor countries, their content will mostly related to the implementation of the memorandum on the establishment of four de-escalation areas," Abdrakhmanov told reporters on Tuesday.
"For now, the delegations are engaged in bilateral talks, and the negotiations are due to continue tomorrow, on July 5, at the Rixos Hotel, to elaborate final decisions on the items on the agenda," the minister said.
First and foremost, these are ways "to implement the memorandum on the establishment of four de-escalation areas," he said.
"No doubt, such issues as the setting of the areas' perimeter and control over their operation, which shall be discussed and agreed upon by the guarantor countries in the first turn, have key significance for the implementation of this memorandum. As you remember, the memorandum stipulates the opening of checkpoints and observation posts on the perimeter of the de-escalation areas," the minister said.
There are also plans to discuss the demining of UNESCO cultural heritage sites in Syria, he said.