Next Round of Intra-Syrian Talks to Be Held in Geneva – Russian Diplomat

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Another round of intra-Syrian talks will be held in Geneva under the UN aegis, a Russian Foreign Ministry source told RIA Novosti Tuesday.

"The next round of intra-Syrian consultations will be held in Geneva under the UN aegis," the source said, without giving the exact date of the event.

Syria has been torn by civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous militant groups. According to UN estimates, the conflict has claimed at least 220,000 lives.

The most recent UN-backed Syrian reconciliation conference, the Geneva-2, took place in February 2014, but failed to bring tangible results.

Moscow has hosted two rounds of Intra-Syrian talks. At the second tour of consultations that took place April 6-9, the sides agreed on a 10-point agenda stipulating the settlement of the Syrian crisis should be reached by "political means on the grounds of consensus, based on the principles of the Geneva communiqué issued on June 30, 2012".

On Sunday, sources told Sputnik that next round of Syrian negotiations may take place in New York in May.

On Monday, the founder of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society, Randa Kassis said that a group of Syrian opposition members was planning to visit Astana later in April to discuss the possibility of holding Syrian reconciliation talks in Kazakhstan.