Suspended Syrian peace talks to resume in Geneva next week

Syrian peace talks that were suspended last month because of continuing fighting are to resume in Geneva on 9 March, the UN has announced, in a sign of confidence that a fledgling cessation of hostilities agreement is just about holding.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, initially set 7 March as the target date but said on Tuesday that the talks would now begin two days later “to allow adequate time to address logistical and practical matters”.

The Syrian government and opposition have accused each other of breaches since the cessation agreement came into force on Saturday, but international observers have reported a decline in violence and airstrikes.

The opposition High Negotiations Committee alleged at least three violations by regime forces on Tuesday and 17 violations the previous day. Russia said it had recorded 15 violations over 24 hours, mostly in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and Latakia.

The ceasefire’s fragility was further underlined when the UK’s Foreign Office revealed that no agreed mechanism had yet been set up to handle complaints of breaches.

Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, said the truce provided a “glimmer of hope” for the country. “We will do our part so that the whole thing works,” he told the German public broadcaster ARD.

Assad offered a wide amnesty to opposition fighters if they agreed to disarm. “The terrorists have breached the deal from the first day,” he said. “We as the Syrian army are refraining from responding in order to give a chance to sustain the agreement. But in the end there are limits and it all depends on the other side.”

De Mistura said he was looking forward to Syrian participants’ “engagement in serious discussions with a view to implementing security council resolution 2254”. That calls for a ceasefire, humanitarian access, elections and a new constitution as a package deal for ending the five-year-long war.

It does not, however, address the crucial question of the future of Assad, who the Syrian opposition insists must step down.