Geneva, Jan 26: UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura has said that peace talks on Syria have been rescheduled for January 29 and will last for six months.
“The discussions are still ongoing and I have been very much aware of what happened in Geneva 2, therefore we have been careful and extremely thorough in wanting to make sure that when and if we start, we start on the right foot,” De Mistura said at a news conference in Geneva on Monday.
“Due to the intense disagreement and different opinions, the actual beginning of the talks, meant to be today, have been delayed. Today, instead of announcing the beginning of the talks, I am announcing to you the date in which my opinion we will be able to send invitations;tomorrow.
“The date which we will be aiming to have the intra-Syrian talks will be the 29th of January.”
Last week, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups should start by the end of January as planned, but the invitation list remains a sticking point.
The talks, expected to take place in Geneva, were a result of a set of meetings in Vienna and New York between the international community and regional players. During those meetings Saudi Arabia was expected to come up with the opposition list to attend the Geneva talks.
US and Russia fail to agree on Syria talks invite list.
