The United Nations has suspended peace talks on Syria until Feb. 25, citing a lack of progress in the first week.
The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, announced in Geneva a “temporary pause” in negotiations because of intensified fighting in the war-torn nation.
Of particular concern for opposition representatives at the negotiations has been the steady advances of the Syrian government, backed by Russia, in rebel-controlled areas in northern Syria in recent days. Those attacks led to immediate complaints from Syrian opposition groups, which were asked to join the talks even as they were being attacked on the ground in Syria.
De Mistura said that all parties were “interested in having the political process started,” and he would shoot for resuming the effort on Feb. 25, the Associated Press reported.
The talks started later than planned and had just opened Monday, but lasted just three days before being suspended.
The talks are the first attempted at a broad peace deal in two years, and the Syrian civil war has been raging for five years and has left more than 250,000 dead.
