Opposition Groups to Blame for Failure of Syria Talks - Delegation Head

The Riyadh-formed opposition delegation is responsible for the failure of intra-Syrian talks, the head of the Syrian government's delegation to the Geneva proximity talks, Bashar Jaafari, said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Damascus and the Syrian opposition began UN-backed reconciliation talks in late January in Geneva but they were later suspended. The negotiations are expected to resume in late February.

"They [Riyadh group] didn’t go for the sake of dialogue, but rather to foil it by setting preconditions. They knew in advance that things would go into a stalemate," Jaafari was quoted as saying by SANA news agency.

Last week, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura decided to postpone the UN-backed talks on Syrian reconciliation as the parties were unable to reach a compromise on a number of issues. The opposition and government delegations blamed each other for the breakdown of the talks.

The negotiations, organized in line with the UN Security Council's December resolution that stipulated that the entire spectrum of political factions in the crisis-torn country should be brought to the negotiating table, are expected to resume on February 25.