Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the Syria crisis by phone, this information was confirmed on Saturday by the Kremlin. The presidents have exchanged views over the third round of talks on the Syria crisis planned to be held in Astana on May 3 and 4.
Russian President and his Kazakhstan counterpart had a conversation by phone, on Saturday they discussed Syrian peace talks, the next round of which will welcome Astana, the capital of Kazakstan, on May 3-4. The previous, second, round of Astana peace talks closed without any substantive negotiations, while the first one was very fruitful.
The rebels boycotted the second round in Astana, the whole process is run by Russia, Turkey and Iran, backers of the warring sides. Some U.N. involvement was present too, and three above mentioned states agreed to hold the next round in Astana on May.
Syria today
While Putin and Nazarbayev have the phone conversation, the Homs authorities informed about the evacuation of rebels from al-Waer district. Fighters with families took the first few buses to leave the city on Saturday morning. The Russian and Syrian forces were overseeing the evacuation, according to the plan, the full departure of rebels from al-Waer will take from five to six weeks.
Homs governor Talal Barazi, around 1,500 people would depart for the Aleppo countryside on Saturday, including at least 400 fighters:
‘The preparations and the reality on the ground indicate that things will go well,’
Mr Barazi confirmed on Saturday.
