Lavrov: Syria’s Geneva Talks Postponed until End of Month

Local Editor

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that the UN-hosted negotiations on the Syrian conflict planned for Feb. 8 in Geneva had been postponed until the end of that month.

"The date of Feb. 8 has been put back until the end of next month," Lavrov told a meeting with minor Syrian opposition representatives in Moscow to discuss peace talks in Kazakhstan that ended Tuesday without a major breakthrough.

There was no confirmation from the United Nations [UN] on the latest plans for the next round of talks between the Syrian regime and opposition.

The main opposition groups stayed away from the Moscow meeting with Lavrov.

Representatives from armed opposition groups and Damascus were expected to hold their first face-to-face talks in Astana.

Key players Russia, Turkey and Iran backed the talks and the main result was a trilateral agreement to try to shore up a shaky ceasefire on the ground in the war-torn country.

The latest initiative to halt fighting that had killed over 310,000 people since 2011 comes after the Syrian Army ousted the Takfiri militants from eastern Aleppo last month.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team