Syria opposition vows no return to talks ‘until humanitarian demands met’

“In fact it is the test that shows the talks are successful”, the UN’s special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura explained to the BBC.

“We should take a decision in the coming two days”, Sabra said.

Government troops continue advance on the city of Aleppo.

Syrian government forces stand in the village of Tal Jabin, north of the embattled city of Aleppo, as they advanced to break a three-year rebel siege of two government-held Shiite villages, Nubol and Zahraa, and take control of parts of the supply route to the area on February 3, 2016.

The offensive is one of several the government has launched since President Vladimir Putin threw Russian Federation s military might behind Assad, adding to support from Iran, on September 30.

“I see no reason to stop these airstrikes”, Lavrov said during a visit to Oman on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reported.

“I said in part because of the obstruction of humanitarian aid and in part because of the continued violence that’s being wrought by the regime, supported by Russian military activity”.

In addition the tangled conflict has allowed Islamic State extremists to overrun swathes of Syria and also Iraq, ruined the economy and dragged in a range of worldwide players. The UN said last month some 487,000 people were living under siege, among 4.6 million people in so-called “hard-to-reach” areas.

“Talks would not be meaningful if there is no benefit for the Syrian people”, de Mistura said at an impromptu press conference outside the hotel where opposition negotiators are staying.

But problems beset the Geneva gathering from the outset.

The opposition bloc, known as the Higher Negotiations Committee and backed by Saudi Arabia, said on Twitter that it would not return to Geneva “until it sees progress on the ground” in Syria.

The pause in intra-Syrian peace talks will affect discussions within the framework of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) planned for February 11, Gennady Gatilov said.

“These barbaric attacks are created to put pressure on the opposition’s negotiating delegation and to make a mockery of the political process now under way in Geneva and the worldwide community that sponsors it”, Agha said. Local media activists said the opposition forces were on the verge of withdrawal, facing massive bombardment from Russian and regime air strikes.

Following Mistura’s announcement of a three-week suspension of the Syria peace talks, the Western powers demanding the removal of Assad from the very beginning of the crisis condemned the Syrian government for acting in bad faith.

Riad Hibjab, coordinator of the Syrian opposition delegation, told reporters Wednesday night that peace can’t be done with the presence of Bashar al-Assad and with the foreign forces meddling. “We came to Geneva to prove to the world that this regime does not believe in a political solution”.

According to the facilitator of the talks between the government and the opposition, no face-to-face meetings are foreseen yet, the pause responds to the need for the parties to come to the table committed to changing the situation on the Syrian people, the main victim of five years of fighting.

“If there is a failure this time after we tried twice at conferences in Geneva, for Syria there will be no more hope”.