Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, is holding a meeting with the head of Syria’s governmental delegation at the talks in Geneva, Bashar Jaafari, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.
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Asked at a separate news conference about the political transition sought under a U.N. Security Council resolution, Ja’afari said Assad “has nothing to do with the Syrian-Syrian indirect talks” and said the subject was “already excluded from the scene”.
Jihad Makdissi, head of the Cairo opposition group, confirmed he was also expecting de Mistura to issue a paper on a potential “common vision” for Syria that he believed was on the right path.
Staffan de Mistura says the documents can be used to find if there is common ground between the government’s side and that of the Syrian opposition.
De Mistura said, “We are in a hurry” before this phase concludes by the end of this week and the delegations take a previously scheduled break until April.
Assad’s fate has been a key obstacle in the latest talks aimed at ending Syria’s devastating five-year war, which has killed more than 270 000 people and displaced millions.
“The tragedy in Brussels… reminds us that… we have no time to lose”, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva.
The High Negotiations Committee, an umbrella group representing several Syrian opposition parties at the talks, has accused the government of dragging its feet by rejecting discussions of Assad.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had registered six ceasefire violations over the past 24 hours in other areas of Syria. “The same… more or less for the movement on humanitarian aid”.
It does not include IS and the al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front, however, who continue to be targeted in Russian air strikes and government offensives.
Negotiations in Geneva, entering a 10th day Wednesday, were rattled last week by Russia’s surprise decision to withdraw most of its troops from Syria, a move analysts say could help peace efforts by weakening Assad’s position.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that the Syrian army would soon recapture Palmyra from Islamic State, which has held the desert city for almost a year.
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He said Iranian and Afghan nationals, who claim to be “pilgrims”, are also fighting for the Syrian government.
