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Conflict in Syria

Leader: "Hmeimim Group" expects to be back to Geneva in mid-May

The April round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva ended on April 27, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura did not announce a new date for the next round

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW/DAMASCUS, April 30. /TASS/. A group of Syrian opposition "Hmeimim Group" is set to continue the intra-Syrian peace talks and expects to return to Geneva in mid-May, Secretary General of the National Conference party Ilian Masaad, the group's leader, told TASS on Saturday.

CONFLICT IN SYRIA

"We are for a dialogue and we do not bring forward preliminary conditions," Masaad said. "And we will be back to Geneva. Many dates have been mentioned, varying from May 10 to 15. The middle of May seems the most realistic."

The April round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva ended on April 27. UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura did not announce a new date for the next round, but noted fragility of the current ceasefire in Syria. He said that the situation "on the ground" would affect a possibility for all the delegations to gather again at the negotiating table.

De Mistura pointed out that both Russia and the United States could play a crucial role in ensuring the cessation of hostilities. The two co-chairs should assist the ceasefire regime urgently, he told a news conference.

The ceasefire has been effective in Syria since February 27, 2016. It does not apply to the groups Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra (both outlawed in Russia), and also to other groups declared as terrorist by the UN Security Council. Russia’s aviation grouping has been delivering air strikes against the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria since September 30, 2015 at the request of Syria’s President Bashar Assad. Since 2014, the US-led coalition has also been delivering air strikes against militants in Syria and Iraq.

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