![United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York, U.S. on September 23 2016 [REUTERS/Andrew Kelly]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-09-23T162715Z_1_LYNXNPEC8M13Q_RTROPTP_3_UN-ASSEMBLY-ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1)
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday accused the UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura of sabotaging efforts to end the conflict in the country.
During a televised interview while on a visit to Minsk, Belarus, Lavrov said: “The United Nations in the form of its special representative, Staffan de Mistura, has been sabotaging the UN Security Council resolution 2254 for more than six months.”
Lavrov said the resolution called for “holding inclusive Syrian talks without preconditions.”
“It seems there is no other way except for the patriotic opposition and the government to take the initiative into their own hands and organise Syrian dialogue,” he added.
UN Security Council Resolution 2254 calls for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and the formation of a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” government within six months and UN-supervised “free and fair elections” within 18 months.
In April, the third round of talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition failed without any progress after the opposition withdrew from them over the regime’s targeting of civilians in Syria.