DAMASCUS, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday that the Syrian army's victory in the fight against terrorism set the ground for more political work.
The president made the remarks during his meeting with a Russian delegation headed by Sergei Lavrentyev, the special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During the meeting, the president discussed with the delegation over the preparations for the upcoming talks in Astana, according to media office of the Syrian president's office.
Stressing that the victory of the Syrian army over the terrorist groups in Syria prepares the ground for political action, Assad said his government was still looking "positively" to any political initiative that could curb the bloodletting in Syria.
The president also emphasized that the war on terrorism would continue along with the political development through encouraging dialogue and reconciliation until reaching an amendment to the constitution and holding new parliamentarian elections.
For Russian part, Lavrentyev made it clear that Moscow was moving forward in supporting the Syrian government in the anti-terrorism war, while at the same time, would support the solution for Syria through a political track.
The seventh round of Astana talks on Syria will be held on Oct. 30-31 in the Kazakh capital.
The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said several issues would be tackled during this round of talks including regulations on the release of hostages and prisoners as well as the transfer of bodies of the dead and the search for missing people.
The last couple of rounds of talks in Astana contributed to establishing de-escalation zones in some hotspots in Syria.
The talks in Astana will be followed by a new round of talks in Geneva.
UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said Thursday that the next round of talks in the Swiss city would be held in late November.
Efforts are now being exerted for uniting the opposition delegation with the Geneva talks, as the Saudi-backed opposition will hold a meeting in Riyadh soon to discuss the matter.
According to the pro-government al-Watan daily, Moscow has urged the opposition to form a delegation to the Geneva talks.
