ASTANA. Sept 15 (Interfax) - The guarantor countries of the Syria truce will set criteria for the admission of new countries as observers of the Astana negotiation process, the Russian president's special representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said.
"We have decided to set criteria according to which one country or another would be given observer status in the Astana process in the future. We have decided to agree on this at the working level via diplomatic channels," Lavrentyev told a press conference in Astana on Friday.
If the guarantors reach agreement on this matter, they will send invitations to the potential monitors, he said.
Among these are China, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, the diplomat said.
"They are Syria's neighbors that are also fighting Jabhat al-Nusra [banned in Russia] and which have a large number of Syrian refugees on their territory and are naturally keen on establishing peace and stability in the [Syrian] republic," Lavrentyev said.