UN will send Syria envoy to Russia conference

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will send his Syria peace negotiator to a conference in Russia next week, a spokesman said on Saturday, despite the Syrian opposition's boycott of the meeting.

Guterres "is confident that the congress in Sochi will be an important contribution" to reviving the peace talks held under United Nations auspices in Geneva, a UN spokesman said in a statement.

Russia had long sought UN participation in the conference opening on Monday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as part of its diplomatic efforts to end the six-year war.

Hours earlier, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura ended a ninth round of UN-sponsored talks in Vienna, with no sign of progress toward a peace deal.

"I share the immense frustration of millions of Syrians inside and outside the country at the lack of a political settlement to date," De Mistura said.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric indicated that Guterres had received assurances that the Sochi conference would not seek to sideline the UN talks.

Guterres made the decision after being briefed by de Mistura and taking into account the statement by Russia that the outcome of the Sochi talks should be brought to Geneva as a contribution to the intra-Syrian talks process under the auspices of the United Nations, said the statement released in Addis Ababa.

"The secretary-general is confident that the congress in Sochi will be an important contribution to a revived intra-Syrian talks process under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva," said the statement.

The UN chief has "decided to accept the invitation of the Russian Federation to send a representative to attend the Sochi Congress" and has asked De Mistura to go, he added.

Russia has invited more than 1,500 delegates to the two-day conference.

The Russian foreign ministry welcomed Guterres' decision, and said the Vienna talks had "focused in particular on the problems of constitutional reform" - a process that could determine whether or how Assad remains in power.

"On these issues, a mutual agreement was reached between the Russian side and the UN representatives, on the sidelines of the Vienna meeting," said a Foreign Ministry statement issued in Moscow.

On the ground, Syrian forces have pressed on with an offensive in rebel-held Idlib launched in late December, with Russian backing.

Two weeks ago, Turkey launched airstrikes and shelling against Kurdish militias in northern Syria, marking a dangerous new escalation in the conflict.

That development has raised tensions between Turkey - which along with Iran backs the Russian conference in Sochi - and the United States, which has supported the Kurdish militias in the campaign against the Islamic State group.

More than 340,000 people have died in the war, millions have fled their homes and the fighting has left the country in ruins.

Xinhua - Afp

(China Daily 01/29/2018 page11)