The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was speaking Friday on the sidelines of the fifth round of Syria peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.
“Hence our expectations and the strong suggestion to the guarantors of the Astana process are that they do retake situation in hand, and that hopefully there will be new Astana meeting as soon as possible in order to control the situation, which at the moment is worrisome,” he said.
Since the beginning of this year, Iran, Russia and Turkey have mediated three rounds of peace negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups in Astana.
The first round, which took place in January, brought together representatives from the Damascus government and opposition groups for the first time during six years of conflict, paving the way for the resumption of the stalled UN-led negotiations on the Syria crisis.
The trio have agreed on the establishment of a mechanism to support the truce, underlined the importance of maintaining the national sovereignty of Syria, and stressed that there was no military solution to the conflict in the Arab country.
De Mistura’s comments come amid fresh clashes between Syrian forces and militant groups on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The militants operating there have been trying to reach the heart of Damascus, but they have failed to do so in the face of stiff resistance from government forces.
On March 23, Syria wrote to the UN about the situation near Damascus, telling the world body that such militant attacks are merely meant to undermine the UN-sponsored talks in Geneva.
De Mistura further added that the UN is not expecting any breakthrough or breakdown at the ongoing indirect intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, but “incremental progress” from previous rounds.