The Foreign Minister, Angelino Alfano, met the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation where he was briefed on the special envoy’s assessment of the situation in Syria.
“Italy welcomes the resumption of talks on the Syrian crisis between the US and Russia” stated Alfano, expressing “cautious optimism” on the Astana agreement. “However, Astana is not the place to discuss political or constitutional issues which should be dealt with by the Geneva process” continued Alfano. The Minister praised de Mistura’s efforts to maintain “the complementary nature of the Geneva negotiations”. “The marked reduction of violence in Syria is a positive development, but in view of past failures, we can’t assume that the agreement will be implemented. We support any action to reduce the level of violence in Syria on condition that it is not short-lived, and produces lasting results” concluded Alfano.
At the press conference, the Foreign Minister commented on the attacks in Tehran against the Iranian parliament: “We express our solidarity with the victims of global terrorism that can strike anywhere, with the same blatant disregard for human life”.