UN denies Syria talks in Geneva have been delayed

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu (not seen) before their Turkish- Russian- Iranian Foreign Miinisters’ tripartite meeting in Moscow, Russia on 20 December, 2016 [Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency]

Following the remarks of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding the Syrian peace talks in Geneva being delayed, a UN official has denied that the talks slated to take place on 8 February have been pushed back.

Yara Al-Sharif, spokeswoman for the UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, said yesterday: “There is no confirmation that the February talks have been postponed.”

She added: “[Staffan] de Mistura will decide this when he is back from a meeting with the UN Secretary General and representatives of the UN Security Council.”

Earlier yesterday, Lavrov announced that the talks had been pushed back until the end of February.

“The date of 8 February has been put back until the end of next month [of February],” he said at a meeting with representatives of the Syrian opposition in Moscow, the Russian news agency Tass reported.

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