ASTANA. March 7 (Interfax) - The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Iran will make a joint statement at the Astana meeting on March 16; the date of the 9th round of the intra-Syrian talks in Astana may be set, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov told the press in Astana on Wednesday.
"To my knowledge, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey are planning to make a joint statement. They have such an intention. Perhaps, the document will cover principle areas of the promotion of the Astana process, and the date of the next round may be set," Abdrakhmanov said.
"We have great expectations of the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of the Astana process' guarantor countries in Astana, since they will sum up results of the work done in the pervious year [...] and make plans for the future of the Astana process in the light of the recent tragic developments, including those in Eastern Ghouta," he said.
Kazakhstan is also expecting "measures towards building confidence" between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups in the field of prisoner swaps, the exchange of bodies, and the search for missing persons, Abdrakhmanov said.