1st LD Writethru: New round of Syria talks to resume on Mar. 7
Xinhua, February 27, 2016 Adjust font size:
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said Friday that new round of Syria talks will resume on Mar. 7.
The envoy made the announcement while briefing the UN Security Council from Geneva through a video conference system.
The announcement came just hours before the warring parties will start to observe a partial ceasefire, also known as the cessation of hostilities across Syria, which is contained in an agreement between Washington and Moscow struck early this week.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council welcomed the agreement, which was announced Monday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the terms of a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria scheduled to come into effect on Feb. 27.
The UN Security Council adopted on Friday a resolution to endorse cessation of hostilities in Syria that will go into effect at 00:00 Damascus time on Feb. 27.
UN-led talks seeking to broker a political solution between Syrian warring factions, namely Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition forces, came to a premature standstill on Feb. 3 after parties failed to see eye to eye on a number of issues.
More than 250,000 people in Syria have been killed since March 2011. According to related UN agency figures, 110,000 people in besieged areas in Syria have been provided with vital humanitarian aid since talks were put on hold three weeks ago. Enditem