Syria talks postponed, says UN Envoy

Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria of the UN and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in Brussels, Belgium on 13 March 2019 [Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency]

Syrian Peace Talks scheduled in Geneva this month on a new Constitution for Syria have been cancelled, UN Syrian Envoy, Geir Pedersen, announced, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the UN Special Envoy for Syria also expressed regret that talks between the regime and opposition scheduled to start on 25 July in Geneva “are no longer possible”.

Pedersen said in a statement that the ninth round of talks on revising the Constitution of the conflict-torn country could not be held and alluded to the neutrality issue, stressing the importance of all players in the 11-year conflict “protecting and firewalling the Syrian political process from their differences elsewhere in the world”.

Russia, which supports the Syrian government, had called in June for the talks to be postponed.

The Syrian government representative in Moscow said the host country, Switzerland, had lost its neutrality, referring to Swiss sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.

READ: War has killed 1.5% of Syria’s population

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