High Hopes: UN-Backed Syrian Peace Talks Kick Off in Geneva

The highly-anticipated intra-Syrian reconciliation talks mediated by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura began on Friday in Geneva despite the absence of some delegations from the Syrian opposition.

GENEVA (Sputnik) — De Mistura is expected to meet on Friday with the Syrian government delegation, led by Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar al Jaafari, and representatives of the Syrian civil society.

In December, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on settling the Syrian conflict, which reaffirmed the goals of the Vienna agreements to bring the entire spectrum of political groups in the crisis-torn country to the negotiating table and stated that the next round of the talks would take place in January, 2016.

The talks between the Syrian government and the country's opposition are taking place on Friday evening.

The interim results of intra-Syrian talks will be reviewed during a meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Munich on February 11, Russian envoy to the UN Office in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin said Friday.

"We have no particular schedule. De Mistura does not have it either. But I believe…some results of the initial stage [of intra-Syrian talks] will be assessed at a meeting of the International Syria Support Group [the so-called Vienna Group] in Munich on February 11," Borodavkin told RIA Novosti.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov will arrive in Geneva on February 1 to attend intra-Syrian talks, he added.

"Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov will arrive on Monday," Borodavkin told reporters.

He also expressed hope that coordination of lists of terrorist organizations in Syria would be completed by the Vienna Group meeting.