Thursday marks the sixth round of talks in the capital of Kazakhstan where representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups are meeting.

Astana talks are brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran and is aimed at lasting ceasefires in Syria.

Delegations from Russia, Iran, Turkey with the attendance of experts from the US, Jordan and the UN, will discuss the establishment of a de-escalation zone in Idlib, according to Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister.

"Astana is exactly the additional tool which helped groups to reach some technical agreement on the ground which basically lay the ground to further negotiations," Alexey Khlebnikov, of the Russian International Affairs Council, told Al Jazeera.
The focus will primarily be on the de-escalation zones, Al Jazeera added.