UN hopes for direct talks between Syrian government and opposition

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UN mediator Staffan de Mistura said Syrian government and opposition negotiators might soon hold face-to-face talks for the first time. He made the remark on the penultimate day of peace talks in Geneva, which started on Monday and will wrap up on Saturday.

De Mistura said he did not expect the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) to unite with two other dissident groupings, the "Moscow" and "Cairo" platforms, which are supported by Russia. When asked if the talks may happen before the next round of Geneva negotiations, scheduled in late August, he answered “Perhaps even earlier.”

“I am not pushing for it, because I want, when it happens, that there should not be a row, but should be real talks,” De Mistura added.

The UN official made the remark before meeting with Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja’afari, promising to "go into much more substance on the political side."

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