The first day of long-awaited negotiations between the Syrian regime and opposition groups began with recriminations and wrapped up with conflicting progress reports. The good news is all parties returned to the negotiations on Tuesday.

As this story was being written, the negotiations were still underway. The information coming from Astana, Kazakhstan, was scarce and at times contradictory. The Syrian opposition demanded the discussions be held behind closed doors without media access, except for occasional leaks and briefs from the delegates. 

But even though there was no obvious breakthrough after the first day, if preparation is half the battle, the talks have a good foundation.

Astana, the capital of Central Asia’s largest country, was chosen for the talks for a good reason. Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev is a rare leader who over the years has been able to build good working relations with all of the players involved — Russia, Turkey, Iran and the Arab world. Kazakhstan has long wanted to establish itself as a champion of “mediation diplomacy” and has a short but successful record of doing that work.