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UN Secretary General calls to speed up preparations for new round of talks on Syria

Special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said earlier he plans to resume discussions between the delegations of Damascus and the opposition no later than early November

UN, October, 19. /TASS/. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has instructed his special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to intensify efforts to convene a new round of negotiations between Damascus and the opposition, the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

According to him, the UN head "continues to closely monitor" the situation in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where an operation is under way against the militants of the Islamic State and calls on the participants of military conflict to protect civilians.

The next round of inter-Syrian negotiations in Geneva was planned to be held in August.

De Mistura said earlier, he plans to resume discussions between the delegations of Damascus and the opposition no later than early November.

On Wednesday, the special envoy of the UN Secretary General held talks in Moscow with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The two discussed the prospects of transition from the stage of creation of zones of de-escalation in Syria "to a more stable political settlement in Syria.".