Kazakhstan Shocks Russia and Turkey by Pulling Out of Syria Talks.

Kazakhstan has announced that it will no longer host talks aimed at resolving Syria's 12-year-old conflict, surprising Russia and other participants. Since 2017, the former Soviet republic has provided a venue for talks to representatives of Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iran on ways to resolve the Syrian war. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said the talks have fulfilled their mission, and that "the initial goals, including the creation of de-escalation zones, ending the bloodshed and reducing the number of casualties have been fully implemented."