AFP, Geneva :
A round of Syria peace talks concluded Thursday with both sides agreeing on some key principles but without making any concrete advances towards a political solution, the UN mediator said.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, voiced optimism that the two weeks spent mainly trying to pin down which key principles the warring sides could agree upon would enable them to quickly get down to discussing the thorny issue of political transition when they return to Geneva next month, around April 9.
“Next time, we put the principles aside and we look now (to) the political process,” he told reporters, hailing a far more positive atmosphere than during a previous aborted round that collapsed in early February.
There were “no breakdowns, no walkouts”, said De Mistura, who has since March 14 been shuttling between the government and opposition delegations in the so-called proximity talks.
The main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) also said Thursday the negotiations over the last two weeks had “laid the basis” for substantive talks next month.
But HNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani warned that any real progress depended on Russia pressuring the government.
“This is a unique moment, a precious moment and we hope Russia will seize this moment and use its leverage,” Kodmani said.
“Without this leverage on the regime we have little hope that anything will happen.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry, whose government backs the HNC, was in Moscow on Thursday to see if President Vladimir Putin can be persuaded to support an end to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
A round of Syria peace talks concluded Thursday with both sides agreeing on some key principles but without making any concrete advances towards a political solution, the UN mediator said.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, voiced optimism that the two weeks spent mainly trying to pin down which key principles the warring sides could agree upon would enable them to quickly get down to discussing the thorny issue of political transition when they return to Geneva next month, around April 9.
“Next time, we put the principles aside and we look now (to) the political process,” he told reporters, hailing a far more positive atmosphere than during a previous aborted round that collapsed in early February.
There were “no breakdowns, no walkouts”, said De Mistura, who has since March 14 been shuttling between the government and opposition delegations in the so-called proximity talks.
The main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) also said Thursday the negotiations over the last two weeks had “laid the basis” for substantive talks next month.
But HNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani warned that any real progress depended on Russia pressuring the government.
“This is a unique moment, a precious moment and we hope Russia will seize this moment and use its leverage,” Kodmani said.
“Without this leverage on the regime we have little hope that anything will happen.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry, whose government backs the HNC, was in Moscow on Thursday to see if President Vladimir Putin can be persuaded to support an end to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
