MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Participants of the Syrian reconciliation talks in Moscow failed to agree on measures to improve trust between the sides of the conflict, the meeting’s moderator, Vitaly Naumkin, said Friday.
“The issue of measures to improve trust was also partially raised. A discussion was initiated, but the sides failed to reach any kind of agreement because of lack of time and seriousness of the issue."
Naumkin added that overall results of the talks give “grounds for substantial optimism about the possibility of a peaceful solution to the crisis.”
On Thursday, a source at the talks told Sputnik that participants had agreed on all 10 points of the agenda.
Points, agreed at the talks, reportedly stipulate that settlement of the Syrian crisis should be reached by political means on the grounds of consensus, based on the principles of the Geneva communique issued on June 30, 2012.
The first round of intra-Syrian peace talks took place in Moscow on January 26-29. Representatives from the Syrian government and opposition parties sat down at the negotiating table with the UN special envoy for Syria to seek an end to the country's civil war.
Syria's internal conflict began in 2011. The country's army is fighting several opposition and rebel groups. The civil war has claimed over 220,000 lives so far, according to UN estimates.
