Kazakhstan's foreign ministry said Saturday that Syrian government officials and armed rebels are being invited to peace talks to be held February 15 and 16 in its capital Astana.

"It is planned to hold the latest high-level meeting within the Astana process on resolving the situation in Syria on February 15 and 16," the ministry said in a statement, adding that those invited include "the Syrian government" and "representatives of the Syrian armed opposition," as well as UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.