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De Mistura trying to bring parties together ahead of Syria talks in Geneva

15 February 2017 02:48 (UTC +04:00)

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is actively working to bring parties closer together ahead of the Syrian talks in Geneva, including visiting capitals of stakeholders, a deputy spokesman for the secretary-general, Farhan Haq, told journalists, APA reports quoting Sputnik.

On Tuesday, de Mistura confirmed to Sputnik that he would visit Moscow on February 16 and was planning to meet Russian ministers.

"He [de Mistura] has visited a number of capitals trying to coordinate efforts as we proceed for the next round of talks," Haq said at a Tuesday briefing. "Prior to that [Geneva talks] he is going to do as much as he can to bring governments together in support of this process."

Haq said he could not immediately confirm the information regarding de Mistura's visit to Moscow.

De Mistura’s spokeswoman Yara Sharif said on Monday that the intra-Syria talks in Geneva would officially start on February 23 while the delegations are due to arrive on February 20.

Ahead of Geneva talks, Kazakh capital Astana will host the second round of Syrian talks on February 15-16.