Syrian talks halted as govt. troops advance towards Aleppo

De Mistura said both sides were “interested in having the political process started”, and that he had set a new date of February 25 for the resumption of the talks.

The assault on Aleppo and several other fronts has provoked fury amongst opposition delegates attending peace talks in Geneva, who accused Moscow and Damascus of using force to wring concessions from them at the negotiating table.

Members of the main Syrian opposition group – known as the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) – and representatives from Bashar al-Assad’s government are in Switzerland as the war rages on in Syria.

Syria’s war has killed more than 260,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

Despite the increase in air strikes from Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces and their Russian allies, the U.N.’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan di Mistura, is holding out hope that the process will begin again in earnest.

The Syria peace talks had begun in Geneva last Friday – but so far no tangible benefits.

“Heavy air strikes by Russian planes” supported the army in its advance, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

Previously, rebels invited to the Geneva meeting had said they would pull out unless first the siege of some Syrian cities was lifted, bombardments were halted and prisoners released.

On Wednesday, Syrian government forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, blasted their way into two Shiite villages in the north, breaking a long-running rebel siege, Syrian TV reported. “We came to Geneva to prove to the world that this regime does not believe in a political solution”.

It was said that government forces had made progress in the northwest of Aleppo, which is now a rebel stronghold.

Staffan de Mister was quoted by Reuters as saying: “I have indicated from the first day that I won’t talk for the sake of talking”.

“I will be asking for the ISSG to convene as soon as possible, hopefully in Munich, and for the U.N. Security Council to meet and reconvene on February 25”, De Mistura said.

“I have been long enough at the U.N.to know that when you have a five-year war that has had so many hard moments you have to be determined but also realistic”.

“Russian airstrikes will not cease until we truly win over terrorist groups: Daesh (ISIS), Jabhat al-Nusra and such”.

“The problem is with the criminal regime that decimates children and with Russia which always tries to stand alongside criminals”, he said, clutching a photo of a young boy he said was hurt by Russian air strikes.

“We’ve never seen anything like this”, opposition delegate in Geneva, Hind Kabawat, said.