ICRC Head, UN Special Envoy Discuss Syria Peace Prospects Ahead of Astana Talks

DAVOS (Sputnik) — The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, told Sputnik that he met one-on-one with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to discuss the possible impact of the upcoming talks in Astana on bringing peace to Syria.

"Everybody knows that the next important step and crossroads will be in Astana, and I think everybody is eager to see that there is a process ongoing that leads to the ceasefire which holds, and that there is a process in Astana going on which has a strong link to the overall UN efforts to find peace in Syria. We discussed those issues together and I gave [de Mistura] a feedback from my recent trips to the region," Maurer said.

The peace negotiations on Syria will take place on Monday in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Syrian opposition groups agreed to attend the talks brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran as an attempt to end the six-year civil war in the country, which sees government forces fighting against a number of opposition and terrorist groups, including Daesh, which is banned in Russia as other states worldwide.

On Thursday, the United Nations said in a statement that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had asked de Mistura to head the UN delegation to the Astana talks on the Syrian crisis.

On Tuesday, Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari confirmed in an interview with Sputnik that he would lead the Syrian government’s delegation at the upcoming talks.

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