ASTANA, 26 Rabi'II, 1438,January 24, 2017, SPA -- UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura announced today the resumption of negotiations between the delegations of the Syrian regime and Syrian opposition in the Kazakh capital Astana. De Mistura said in a press statement on the sidelines of the negotiations, "Meetings were resumed, the work will continue and we are optimistic." The negotiations were launched yesterday in the presence of the two delegations and a number of international delegations to discuss the mechanisms for maintaining the cessation of hostilities in force on 30 December. --SPA 11:51 LOCAL TIME 08:51 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w318495