BEIRUT (AP) – Indirect peace talks between Syria’s warring parties are scheduled to resume in Geneva on Wednesday, the third round this year. There are two main groups at the negotiations in Switzerland, in addition to others that were invited by the United Nations as advisers.
The U.N. envoy for Syria says the talks this time are to focus on a political transition in the war-torn country, but chances for a breakthrough are slim as distrust and continuing disagreements between rival factions remain deep.
Here’s a look at the talks:
BACKDROP OF VIOLENCE
The talks this week resume amid an escalation, with clashes underway mainly between government forces and militants, mainly near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The fighting could endanger a truce brokered by Russia and the United States that has mostly held since going into effect on Feb. 27. The first round of talks collapsed earlier in February amid a government offensive on Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once its commercial center. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura said after talks with officials in Damascus earlier this week that keeping the truce was key, describing the cease-fire as fragile and stressing that all sides “need to make sure that it continues to be sustained.”