The presidents of Russia and Turkey have said they support the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as a delegation of Syrian rebels walked out of ceasefire talks with the Damascus government underway in Kazakhstan, citing repeated violations of a similar truce agreed on in December. Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground there Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar Assad's forces. The Astana talks are proximity talks, with Syrian government representatives and the rebels separately meeting with Russian officials and other representatives. The rebels demanded a halt to the government's bombardment of opposition zones in Syria. Syrian TV said the Astana talks began with a meeting between delegations from Russia and Iran, another close ally of Assad.

Source: India Today May 04, 2017 02:17 UTC