UN sets new target for resumption of Syria peace talks

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura said Tuesday that he aimed to restart Syrian peace talks seeking to broker a political end to the five-year conflict by the end of next month.

"Our aim is to proceed with the third round of intra-Syrian talks towards the end of August," he said after a trilateral meeting with U.S. and Russian representatives here.

"Meanwhile, we hope that concrete progress on the Kerry-Lavrov understanding will visibly take place," he added.

The diplomat was referring to a recent Moscow-based meeting seeking to advance dialogue on Syria between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart John Kerry.

"In order to make these talks particularly truthful and hopeful we are certainly eager to see the outcome of the steps agreed upon in Moscow," he said.

De Mistura noted that progress was made during the one-day talks Tuesday, though a number of details remained to be worked out.

The dire situation in both Aleppo and Damascus was also touched upon by representatives, he highlighted.

The UN-mediated peace process seeking to put an end to the Syrian conflict has been on hold since April this year. Enditem