Tabnak - A new round of Syria talks has begun in Geneva on Thursday, with the Deputy of UN Syria Envoy arranging the first meetings with the delegations of Syrian government and the opposition. However, like most of the previous rounds, the expectations are low for a breakthrough in resolving the Syrian crisis.
According to a report published by the Associated Press, the top deputy for the UN Syria envoy is shuttling between Geneva hotels to meet with envoys from the government delegation and opposition groups ahead of the formal start of a fifth round of UN-mediated peace talks.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, issued a statement on Thursday noting that all parties have arrived for the intra-Syria talks in Geneva. He is expected to join the talks of Friday, after intense trips to some involving countries for preliminary consultations.
His deputy, Ramzy Ezzeldin, kicked off the day meeting with the delegation of the Syrian government. He is also expected to meet with opposition delegates for informal consultations.
At the same time, Russian news agency Sputink quoted the head of so-called Cairo Group of the opposition Jamal Suleiman as saying that the delegation of the Cairo platform of the Syrian opposition will start off its participation in the negotiations in Geneva by meeting with Ramzy.
Sputink also notes that earlier in the day, Ramzy held a meeting with the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) and the Syrian government's delegation prior to the official opening of the new round of intra-Syrian talks.
The UN on Tuesday urged those attending this week’s Syria peace talks to engage "substantively and proactively”. "All invitees who had already attended the previous round of talks in February 2017 have confirmed their participation,” de Mistura said earlier this week.
It should be noted that at the previous round of talks from January 23rd to March 3rd the sides made modest progress and they are expected to build on gains in the coming round.
First, they agreed on an agenda and modus operandi. Four topics – governance, a new constitution, elections and "terrorism” – are to be discussed simultaneously in working groups with the aim of finding common ground before devising an action plan.
Second, the opposition was forged into a single delegation. The Riyadh-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which had been regarded as the main opposition group, was compelled to join with two smaller, moderate groups, the Moscow and Cairo platforms.
The fifth round of talks on Syrian crisis settlement kicks off on March 23 and is expected to conclude on March 31, according to sources close to the organization of the meetings. However, almost no one expects any major breakthrough to be made in this fresh round of talks and reaching an agreement on how to enter the details of the current agenda could be regarded as a considerable gain by itself.
