LOSBY GODS, Norway: A new round of Syria peace talks could happen next month in Geneva, the United Nations envoy said on Wednesday.
Staffan de Mistura told reporters during at a conference in Norway that fresh negotiations aimed at ending Syria’s six-year-old civil war could start at the end of the holy month of Ramadhan.
The UN has mediated peace talks between Syrian government and rebel delegations for several years to little avail. But a parallel peace process involving Russia, Iran and Turkey, agreed in May to establish four safe zones across Syria where flights would be banned and aid deliveries ensured.
The zones have ushered in a marked decrease in fighting.
But that plan, agreed in the Kazakh capital Astana between some of the war’s major players, has stalled as sponsor nations disagreed over the precise outlines and which countries should send in forces to police the zones. A new round of Astana talks had been scheduled for this week but were postponed indefinitely.
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