UN to convene another round of intra-Syrian talks in January 2018

Almaty. December 15. Silkroadnews - The U.N. intends to convene the new round of intra-Syrian talks in January 2018, the Kazakh Telegraph Agency (KazTAG) reports with reference to the press service of the United Nations.
“A “golden opportunity” has been missed to decide the future of Syria at the end of the latest round of United Nations-supported talks in Geneva, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura told the reporters in Geneva. Speaking on his meeting with delegation of the Syrian government he also said about the meeting with the united opposition delegation he had for the first time. The UN representative expressed disappointment at the Syrian government’s lack of engagement on any issue other than counter-terrorism and stated his intention to convene a new round of intra-Syrian talks in January,” the report said on Friday.
It is noted that one of the main goals of this eighth round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva was to get the still-warring parties to consider a new constitution for the war-ravaged country and UN-backed elections.
“A big missed opportunity, a golden opportunity at the end of this year, when in fact there is a clear indication from many sides that the military operations are coming to a close, the Da’esh [also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL] territory is reduced to close to zero. At the same time, everybody knows […] that without a clear political process we risk to not have learned the lesson of Mosul, and we risk to not have what should be winning the peace not only winning the war against Da’esh,” de Mistura said.
The UN Special Envoy also reminded on the dire humanitarian situation inside Syria and said that he called on the government delegation to provide all necessary conditions for the evacuation of the sick people from Eastern Ghouta, yet failed to get a “satisfactory” answer from them.