"I did ask the [UN] Security Council and based also on the discussions I had with the SG [Secretary-General] to postpone the talks until the 20th [of February]," de Mistura stated.
He also said that with the talks now planned for February 20, the Syrian government will have an opportunity to engage in serious discussions on the issue and opposition groups, in their turn, will be given a chance to come to the Geneva talks as one unified group.
The envoy pointed out that if the Syrian opposition delegation is not formed by February 8 for the talks in Geneva he would select the delegates as per UN Security Council resolution 2254.
"This time, if by the eighth of February the opposition will not be ready to come up with a unified group I will have to… apply what I have not yet applied which is a prerogative that [Security Council resolution] 2254 gave the special envoy to actually select the delegation in order to make sure that it can be as inclusive as possible," de Mistura stated.
The Geneva round of intra-Syrian talks under UN auspices was initially set for February 8. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the negotiations would be postponed until late February.