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Conflict in Syria

Moscow regrets Syria talks paused, but no one expected everything to be smooth — Kremlin

The Kremlin spokesman said it is evident that the progress of the negotiating process will be difficult

© Alexandr Elistratov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Moscow regrets that the talks on the Syrian settlement in Geneva have been paused but no one expected everything to be quick and smooth, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

CONFLICT IN SYRIA

"Hardly anyone expected immediate results from the first round and this would be probably short-sighted," the presidential spokesman said.

"We hope there will be clarity already soon on how the negotiations will continue," Peskov added.

The Kremlin spokesman said it is evident that the progress of the negotiating process will be difficult. "We hope the pause will be followed by the next round of these really very complicated talks."

"Of course, we regret about this (pause) but no one expected everything to be simple and quick," Peskov added.

On Wednesday, the intra-Syrian talks in Switzerland’s Geneva were suspended until February 25. UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said the pause was because the sides had focused on discussing procedural issues and not on solving particular tasks on alleviating humanitarian problems of the Syrian people.

De Mistura said the problems were not linked to the continuing military operations in Syria, including Russia’s airstrikes launched since September 30 at the request of President Bashar Assad. "These issues were not discussed," he said.

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