Syria’s indirect peace talks likely to be delayed

United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura declared “the talks have started” on Monday following a meeting with the Saudi-sponsored Syrian opposition delegation attending the Geneva meeting charged with ending the war in Syria.

“We have come to Geneva to seek relief for our people by insisting UN Security Council resolution 2254 is implemented, which means humanitarian relief, the lifting of sieges, and the end of attacks on civilians”, said Spokesman Salim al-Muslat.

The opposition then cancelled a meeting with de Mistura scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, with HNC member Farah Atassi saying that “at this moment, there is no reason to repeat ourselves with de Mistura”.

De Mistura called on Monday for the International Syria Support Group, which brings together major powers who back and oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to tackle the issue of ceasefires immediately. “The Russians and regime want to push the opposition out of Geneva so the opposition bears the responsibility for the failure”, said a senior Western diplomat on Wednesday.

A US official said that Anne Patterson, US assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs and US Syria envoy Michael Ratney met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov on Monday in Geneva.

More than a quarter of a million people have been killed since the conflict erupted in 2011, and half the country’s population has been forced to flee their homes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Russia sees no reason to stop its airstrikes in Syria.

Government troops and allied fighters captured hilly countryside near Aleppo on Monday, putting a key supply route used by opposition forces into firing range, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. The ministry also said it had dropped more than 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Islamic State-besieged town of Deir al-Zor, where starvation looms.

He said the inclusion of members of the Army of Islam and Ahrar al-Sham in the opposition delegation reflects the “realistic stances” on the ground in Syria. He said his first goal is simply to keep the talks going, and his overall aim is to help show concrete progress for embattled Syrians. She says the message the government is trying to send to rebels is “there is nothing to negotiate”.

Moscow has agreed that two Syrian rebel groups taking part in peace talks are doing so on an individual basis.

The chief negotiator of the High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition group, said he was not optimistic about the talks because the situation has not changed on the ground.

And HNC spokesperson Salem al-Meslet sounded upbeat after the meeting with de Mistura, vowing that his group “will strive to join the political process”.

“We decided on Sunday night to suspend our participation in negotiations so long as the five Kurdish and one Turkman delegates from our list do not receive invitations from United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura”, Haytham Manna said.

Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for Mr de Mistura, told AFP there was “the need to meet” with Opposition first, and that a meeting with the government would happen “maybe another day”.