Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Related Articles
Damascus, SANA – UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura briefed Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem on the consultative talks he held recently in the Swiss city Geneva.
The envoy began consultations on Syria in early May, to which a delegation from the Syrian government was invited along with 40 Syrian sides and 20 international sides.
De Mistura held separate talks with different sides at the UN headquarters in Geneva away from media coverage. The preliminary stage of the consultations was expected to last for five to six weeks.
De Mistura presented his review to al-Moallem during a meeting in Damascus on Monday.
AL-Moallem, in turn, briefed the UN envoy and the accompanying delegation on the developments in Syria, expressing support to de Mistura’s efforts towards a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
There was stress during the meeting on the importance of what came out of Moscow inter-Syrian talks, held in January and April of 2015, and the need to follow up on them so as to make possible a Geneva 3 meeting, after two rounds of talks held in the Swiss city failed to bring about results.
In a press conference held in Geneva on May 5, de Mistura stressed that these Geneva meetings don’t constitute a conference or a Geneva 3, have no beginning, middle, and end, and are not expected to produce any major final announcements.
However, he added, these meetings constitute close talks with all relevant sides to discuss the crisis in Syria, see what may lie in the future, and look for ideas regarding the future, all of which should lay the groundwork for a solution.
Haifa Said
