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1st LD: Member states "very closely coordinating" to launch Syria talks in New York: UN chief

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Thursday that "member states are very closely coordinating" to hold a new round of Syria international talks in New York, and that "I am looking forward to that."

Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, told Xinhua that "that is his expectation. It is not an official announcement. You have to ask the United States. We cannot officially confirm it, just yet."

The UN chief made the statement in a response to a press question here as he was briefing reporters on the Paris conference on climate change.

"Member-states are very closely coordinating to have the third Vienna process meeting here in New York," Ban told reporters. "I'm looking forward to that."

Diplomats from 17 countries have held two meetings in Vienna to agree on a roadmap to end the nearly five-year war in Syria that has left 250,000 dead and triggered a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. Endit