Syria peace talks to start in Geneva on Jan. 29: UN envoy

GENEVA

REUTERS photo

Peace talks between the warring parties in Syria, which were scheduled to open on Jan. 25, will instead begin in Geneva on Jan. 29 and last for six months, the United Nations’ Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said.  

De Mistura told reporters that the start date was pushed back because of a “stalemate” over the makeup of the delegations, but that the invitations to the participants were expected to be sent out on Jan. 26.

“We are going to aim at proximity talks starting on the 29th and ongoing for six months,” De Mistura said, adding that the first round was expected to last between two to three weeks, AFP reported.

“There will be no opening ceremony,” the U.N. envoy said.  

Securing a cease-fire and space to deliver humanitarian aid to suffering Syrians will be among the first priorities, he added.  

“We are all feeling... the time has come to at least try hard to at least produce an outcome,” De Mistura told reporters.  

The talks will mark the first time the warring sides will take part in negotiations since January 2014, when de Mistura’s predecessor, Lakhdar Brahimi, hosted high-level but fruitless meetings in the Swiss cities of Montreux and Geneva, a round of talks known as Geneva II.

Peace talks meant to begin this week were stalled partly over the question of who would represent the opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the planned negotiations, after piling pressure on Syrian opposition figures to attend.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two diplomats “called on … de Mistura to set a date for negotiations between Syrians as quickly as possible.”  

The talks are part of a U.N.-backed plan agreed last year that envisaged negotiations, followed by the creation of a transitional government, a new constitution, and elections within 18 months.

A few hours before the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement, Kerry said in Laos that he hoped for “clarity” within 48 hours on talks. 

Kerry said he had held a flurry of conversations with key parties including his French, Turkish, Russian and Saudi counterparts to try to get the talks to the starting line.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke with counterparts from France and the United States ahead of U.N.-led peace talks.

Çavuşoğlu first spoke to Kerry late on Jan. 24. In addition to the Geneva talks, the two also exchanged views on Russia’s airstrikes in Syria, diplomatic sources said. Later in the evening, Çavuşoğlu spoke to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and discussed the planned talks in Geneva, said the same sources, speaking under customary condition of anonymity.

Turkey has objected to the inclusion of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syrian peace talks on the side of the opposition. 

During a press conference with EU members in Ankara, Çavuşoğlu said the PYD should not be included in the opposition group. 

“Wanting to include terrorist organizations like YPG [People’s Defense Units, the armed forces of the PYD] into the opposition is disrupting the process. There may be some countries that want this, but we need to say that this is extremely dangerous,” Çavuşoğlu said Jan. 25. “Terrorist organizations should not be in negotiation delegations.”