Possibility increased for direct talks between Syrian government and the opposition

International efforts to peacefully resolve the Syrian crisis are still going on by different mediators and in different places. In this vein and in the sidelines of the latest Syria talks in Geneva, UN envoy has raised the possibility of conducting direct talks between different Syrian factions.

کد خبر: ۷۱۲۱۹۲

تاریخ: ۲۳ تير ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۲:۴۹

Tabnak – International efforts to peacefully resolve the Syrian crisis are still going on by different mediators and in different places. In this vein and in the sidelines of the latest Syria talks in Geneva, UN envoy has raised the possibility of conducting direct talks between different Syrian factions.

Iranian news outlet Press TV reports that the United Nations special envoy for Syria has raised the possibility of direct talks between Damascus and opposition negotiators before the next round of peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

He ruled out the probability of the Saudi-backed Syria opposition bloc, High Negotiations Committee (HNC), uniting with the Moscow- and Cairo-based opposition groups for direct talks with the Syrian government during the ongoing round of the Geneva talks.

Asked whether such a meeting could take place before the 8th round of the Geneva discussions scheduled for late August, de Mistura replied, "Perhaps even earlier."

"I'm not pushing for it. Because I want, when it happens, that there should not be a row but should be real talks. We are actually pushing for areas where they do have common points,” he added.

This is while, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had previously said that Syria’s opposition groups, which are being sponsored by foreign countries, are progressively losing their power. Lavrov made the remarks in a meeting with Ahmad Jarba, leader of Syria's Tomorrow Movement, a Cairo-based opposition group, in Moscow on June 22.

"Those representatives of external opposition, who got used to act solely on the basis of ultimatums and preconditions, who, to be honest, were rather promoting the ideas of their external sponsors than interests of the Syrian people, are gradually losing their influence," he said.

Meanwhile, a ceasefire brokered jointly by Russia and the US in Syria has been another source of international discussions during the recent days. In his latest remarks, US President Donald Trump has said that the ceasefire shows his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a success.

"By having dialogue we were able to have a ceasefire. It's going to go on for a while and frankly we're working on a second ceasefire in a very rough part of Syria," Trump said at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday.

The ceasefire in southwestern Syria was the main outcome of Trump and Putin’s highly-anticipated first meeting on the sidelines of the annual G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, last week.

It should be noted that Syria's opposition groups have recently held technical talks, with HNC negotiator Basma Kodmani saying, "We're coming together on substance, not just principles but operationally."

Syria’s warring parties have also attended five rounds of peace talks brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Kazakh capital, Astana. The Astana discussions produced a memorandum of understanding on de-escalation zones in Syria that sharply reduced fighting in the Arab country.