Syrian Opposition Awaits Moves by UN Envoy, UNSC to Resume Peace Talks

The Syrian opposition’s High Negotiations Committee is awaiting the next steps from UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and the UN Security Council (UNSC) to resume talks on Syrian reconciliation, the spokesman for the committee told Sputnik on Thursday.

GENEVA (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, de Mistura decided to postpone the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva until February 25 as many precursory issues, including access for humanitarian aid to besieged areas in Syria, remained unresolved. The opposition and the government delegations have blamed each other for the breakdown in negotiations.

"It is now up to [UN] SC members to push for the implementation of resolution 2254 that the regime refuses to implement… We will be waiting for de Mistura's new steps. We hope that the [US]SC will find ways to resume the talks by February 25, as de Mistura defined," Riyad Agha said.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the army loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting several opposition factions and militant organizations, including Islamic State, which is banned in Russia and a number of other countries. The country’s government and the opposition met several times during the course of the war for peace talks.

The talks on Syrian reconciliation began in Geneva last week in line with the December resolution on Syrian reconciliation. The resolution also calls for the establishment of humanitarian pauses to facilitate aid reaching the local population, something the opposition had stressed is paramount.