The intra-Syrian talks on crisis settlement have been postponed until February 25, UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters on Wednesday after a meeting with Syria opposition’s High Negotiations Committee envoys in Geneva.
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Diplomats and opposition members said they were taken by surprise when de Mistura called for immediate efforts to begin ceasefire negotiations despite there being no official talks or goodwill measures from the Syrian government.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said the talks were pointless while President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Russian Federation continued their attacks in the country.
The near-five-year-old civil war has killed more than 260,000 people in Syria so far.
A United Nations spokesperson confirmed the opposition’s claims Wednesday, saying to Reuters: “the United Nations has received reports of displacement of hundreds of households in north-east towns of Bayanoun, Hariyatan, Anadan, Hayan and Rityan of Syria following an unprecedented frequency of air strikes in the past two days”.
The Syrian regime’s ongoing offensive into the city of Aleppo may jeopardize fragile peace talks which have just gotten off to a shaky start in Geneva and suspended without any conclusive result.
Pro-government forces are waging a major offensive north of Aleppo to besiege rebel-held neighborhoods.
Germany, the United States, France, the UK and UN all condemned the Russian-backed offensive on Thursday as the reason why peace talks collapsed, and they urged all sides to return to the negotiating table.
Mr de Mistura insists both sides have expressed their interest in the political process and more time is needed for both sides to address a number of unresolved issues, which he did not specify.
The decision came after opposition negotiators said for a second consecutive day that they would not enter into any discussion until their demands were met. Asked why the talks were going to resume, de Mistura said: “Why?”
“Russian strikes will not cease until we really defeat terrorist organizations like Jabhat al-Nusra”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a press conference in Oman, referring to an al Qaeda-linked organization in Syria.
Syrian state-run TV and Lebanon’s Hezbollah TV say the Syrian army and allied militiamen have broken a long running rebel siege of two Shiite villages in the northern Aleppo province.
Local media activists said the opposition forces were on the verge of withdrawal, facing massive bombardment from Russian and regime air strikes.
The Syrian Kurds have consistently denied opposition claims that they cooperate with Damascus.
Russian planes have carried out heavy air strikes throughout the area north of Aleppo city in past days.
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“Less than 3 km separate the regime from cutting all routes to opposition-held Aleppo”, Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said. “But with today’s commitments… our message to the people of Syria and the region is clear – we will stand with you and support you for as long as it takes”.
