The United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called on warring sides to prepare to engage in substantive political discussions at the next round of talks in Geneva, that are scheduled to take place tomorrow (22.3.17). “The Special Envoy urged the invitees in his Security Council briefing and in all contacts since the conclusion of the round-4 to do the necessary preparations in advance of the 5th round to be ready to engage substantively and pro-actively on the substance of all four baskets on the agenda in parallel,” Alessandra Vellucci, Spokeswoman for the UN in Geneva said.
The talks, which are expected to last until the first of April, will focus on governance, constitutional change, UN-sponsored elections and counter-terrorism measures.
Syrian government and opposition delegations to the UN-backed negotiations have confirmed their attendance last month, yet it is unclear if the talks would last for the duration initially planned, after the Russian backed talks in Astana broke-down a day early. Nevertheless, the UN envoy voiced optimism regarding the Geneva talks, and is currently visiting Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia for consultations to assure the backers of the warring parties will support the summit, which aims at ending the bloody conflict. “He (de Mistura) notes that all invitees who had already attended the previous round of talks in February 2017 have confirmed their participation. The Special Envoy is pursuing consultations in various capitals in the next few days,” Vellucci said.
The war, now in its seventh year, rages on as President Bashar Assad seeks to press his advantage by inflicting total defeat on his opponents, supported by the Russian military and Iranian-backed militias.