UN envoy asks Security Council to delay Syria talks in Geneva

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‍UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday that he had asked the UN Security Council to postpone the intra-Syrian peace talks in Geneva until February 20.

"I did ask the [UN] Security Council and based also on the discussions I had with the SG [Secretary-General] to postpone the talks until the 20th [of February]," de Mistura said while talking to reporters after he briefed the 15-nation UN body at a closed meeting on the current situation in Syria.

UN mediator Staffan de Mistura attends a news conference during Syrian peace talks at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, April 18, 2016. /CFP Photo

The Syria talks in Geneva had been scheduled for February 8. De Mistura told the closed council meeting that he sought the postponement in order to give the Syrian opposition more time to prepare for the talks and ensure that the peace talks are as inclusive as possible, diplomats said.

The first session of Syrian peace talks begins in Astana, Kazakhstan on January 23, 2017. /CFP Photo

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Syrian peace talks would be delayed, but he did not elaborate. However, the UN did not confirm it at that time.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Rounds of Syrian peace talks have taken place in Geneva under the auspices of the UN, but little progress has been made mainly due to continuous fighting in the Middle Eastern country.

Also last week, Russia, Iran and Turkey led talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, in a bid to bring an early ceasefire into Syria, where a political crisis broke out in March 2011, followed by a subsequent civil war.

More than 310,000 people have been reportedly killed in the Syrian war.

(Source: Xinhua)

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