The Syria peace talks in Geneva struggled to continue into a second day as the Syrian government did not accept opposition’s precondition for official negotiation.
The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was scheduled to meet with the Syrian main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) delegation for the second time on Tuesday afternoon at the UN headquarters in Geneva. But the meeting was canceled after the Syrian government denied the opposition’s precondition to cease fighting on the ground ahead of negotiation.
After meeting with de Mistura on Tuesday morning, the Syrian government delegation said they are still at a preparatory stage without knowing the name list of the opposition delegation and who exactly they will be negotiating with at the peace talks.
“We are (attending the meeting) in accordance to the call from the special envoy, but the opposition are treating the talks in an unprofessional and undiplomatic manner. We have been emphasizing that this round of talks should take place according to the UN Resolution 2254. It will be a dialogue between Syrians, which should be decided by Syrians themselves. No preconditions for the talks will be accepted. No outside interference should be allowed, either,” said Bashar al-Jaafari, Syrian ambassador to the UN and head of the government delegation.
The opposition then said in a statement on Tuesday night that they cannot continue to negotiate with the UN envoy when the Syrian government and Russia carry on the military actions.
The new round of Syrian peace talks opened January 29 in Geneva’s Palace of Nations with the arrival of the Syrian government delegation, despite the opposition delegation not then being present in the Swiss city.
On January 31, the UN Envoy paid a “courtesy visit” to the delegation of the main Syrian opposition at their hotel in Geneva following their arrival in the previous evening.
After announcing the official beginning of the Geneva Intra-Syrian Talks on February 1, de Mistura also told reporters that his first immediate objective for the talks is to make sure that the talks continue smoothly and that everyone is on board.
The UN-brokered meetings are to take place over the next six months with the aim of finding lasting peace in Syria, a country which has been at war for almost five years.
The scheduled meetings come against a backdrop of stalemates as two past initiatives failed to make headway in solving the political crisis. (CCTV/Reuters)
