Political solution only way forward for Syria: EU official

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday stressed the importance of finding a political solution to end the five-year Syrian crisis.

"The responsibility that we all have and that Staffan de Mistura has on behalf of us all for bringing peace to Syria is first and foremost for the Syrian people, it's for the region but it's also for the Europeans," Mogherini said.

The European official, along with UN Special Envoy for Syria De Mistura, engaged in the latest round of the Syria peace talks seeking to broker a political end to the conflict which has seen over 250,000 die as result of protracted fighting and violence.

"We expect them to engage in the process on three key elements that were agreed by all of us in the international support group, and that are the backbone of our common position endorsed by UN Security Council resolutions," Mogherini said.

"First, the consolidation and expansion of the cessation of hostilities. Second, the consolidation and expansion of the humanitarian access to areas still to be reached. And third, enter into the political process without delays, without games with a spirit of reaching a solution," she said.

The issue of terrorism, brought by all delegations present in talks which kicked off on March 14, was also mentioned by De Mistura, especially in light of recent attacks on the EU's capital Brussels.

"The message that Federica and I are giving is true, that terrorism is, and what we mean by terrorism is Daesh and al-Nusra, a priority," he said after meeting the Syrian government delegation and its opposition counterpart the High Negotiations Committee.

"But the priority of the priorities is that to win against terrorism you have to find a political solution in Syria," De Mistura said. Endit