Negotiations to begin on March 9, says UN
The UN Tuesday postponed Syrian peace talks between the government and opposition members by two days. Talks will now start on March 9 to allow “adequate time to address logistical and practical matters” the UN’s envoy on Syria said.
A cessation-of-hostilities agreement entered into force on February 27, paving the way for talks to resume.
Staffan de Mistura said he was looking forward to “Syrian participants’ engagement in serious discussions with a view to implementing Security Council resolution 2254”.
According to a press statement from Mr. de Mistura’s Office, while 7 March had initially been set as the target date, the Special Envoy will now resume the talks two days later, allowing “adequate time to address logistical and practical matters.”
Mr. de Mistura had been mediating the Geneva-based talks, which officially kicked off last month, but on 3 February called for a pause following differences between Government and opposition delegations on the priority of humanitarian issues.
The announcement of the resumption of the intra-Syrian talks comes just days after the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed the joint statement announced last week by United States Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) Ceasefire Taskforce, on the terms of a nationwide cessation of hostilities, which has been in effect since Saturday, 27 February.
The resolution established a road-map for peace in Syria, including the outlines of a nationwide ceasefire and setting of a timetable for UN-facilitated talks.
The first Syrian talks in last two years started at the end of January 2016, but were suspended on February 3.
“This is not the end, and it is not the failure of the talks,” de Mistura said at the time.
Discussions are expected to focus on setting up an interim government, writing a constitution and staging elections within two years.
Initial priorities included establishing a cease-fire, supplying humanitarian aid and tackling the Daesh issue.
Meanwhile the UN and its partners are stepping up deliveries of food, water and medicine, and plan to reach more than 150,000 people over the next five days.
They hope to help 1.7 million in hard-to-reach areas by the end of March. Earlier, the UN’s secretary general said the cessation of hostilities had held “by and large” since Saturday.
Ban Ki-moon also said a taskforce monitoring compliance, co-chaired by the US and Russia, would meet for the first time to evaluate alleged violations.
France has expressed concern about reports of air strikes by Syrian government and Russian aircraft on areas controlled by mainstream rebel forces.
Russia has said that it is only targeting UN-designated jihadist terrorist organisations – including the so-called Islamic State (IS) and the al-Nusra Front, which is part of a major rebel alliance – in line with the terms of the cessation of hostilities.