De Mistura: I Do Not Expect Quick Success in the New Round of Syrian Negotiations

Stefan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, said on Wednesday that he does not expect quick success in the new round of peace negotiations for Syria taking place on Thursday in Geneva. He called for constructive dialogue among the parties involved in the Syrian civil war to resume political negotiations. According to Reuters, the new round of Syrian peace talks will resume in Geneva after nearly a year of suspension, mediated by the UN. However, de Mistura stated that Russia has asked the Syrian government to refrain from airstrikes in areas where a ceasefire is in place, while foreign countries have urged the rebels not to take provocative actions during this period. The UN special envoy for Syria said: "Do I expect quick success in these negotiations? No, I do not expect quick success. But I expect and am determined to keep the existing positive and active spirit alive." According to the report, hours after de Mistura's remarks, representatives of the opposition groups to Bashar al-Assad's government called for face-to-face negotiations with Syrian government officials, but stated that the representatives of the Syrian government are not prepared for direct negotiations with the opposition. Salem al-Maslat, the spokesperson for the opposition in these negotiations, said they do not want the new round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva to be as fruitless as the previous round. According to the report, Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria's representative at the United Nations, heads the government delegation in these negotiations. Salem al-Maslat, referring to Bashar al-Jaafari, said: "We have the experience of this regime. They have not come here to negotiate about political transition, but to buy time and commit more crimes in Syria." However, Stefan de Mistura expressed hope that the parties present in the Syrian peace talks in Geneva do not disrupt the atmosphere of these negotiations. Several rounds of Syrian peace talks in the past year in Geneva have yielded no results for resolving the six-year civil war in the country. The civil war in Syria has so far left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.