The UN’s Deputy Special Envoy Ramzy Ezzedine Ramzy held bilateral meetings with the Syrian government delegation headed by Bashar al-Ja’afari, as well as the Syrian opposition delegation, led by Nasr al Hariri, as UN-sponsored peace talks continued in Geneva. UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has said the agenda for this round of peace talks, expected to run until the 1st of April, covers four topics, including: a new constitution, new elections, reformed governance, and counter-terrorism. The talks, however, are becoming increasingly difficult, as fighting intensifies on the ground between Assad’s forces, backed by powerful militias, Russia and Iran against the rebel forces that reportedly continue to lose ground. This reality has prompted UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to urge Russia, Iran and Turkey must increase efforts to end the violence in the war-torn-country, which already claimed the lives of more than half a million people and created the severest refugee crisis since world war two.
