Major powerbrokers agreed Friday (December 22nd) to hold a peace congress for Syria in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi in late January in a bid to speed up a political settlement for the war-torn country, AFP reported.
Sochi will host a "congress of national dialogue on Syria" on January 29th and 30th, said a joint statement released after two days of talks spearheaded by Russia and Iran, both key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, and opposition-aligned Turkey.
The "Congress of National Dialogue" will see "the participation of all segments of Syrian society", said the statement released in the Kazakh capital Astana.
"To this end three guarantors will hold a special preparation meeting in Sochi before the congress," it added, referring to Russia, Turkey and Iran.
