Putin must nudge Syria into U.N. peace deal, mediator says

Putin must nudge Syria into U.N. peace deal, mediator says | Reuters

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura urged Russia on Wednesday to convince its ally the Syrian government of the need to clinch a peace deal to end the nearly seven-year-old war. UN Special Envoy to the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura arrives for a round of negotiation with Nasr al-Hariri (not pictured), Head of the Syrian Negotiation Commission, during the Intra Syria talks at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Salvatore Di Nolfi/PoolDe Mistura, speaking on Swiss television station RTS, said failure to make peace quickly through United Nations mediation could lead to “a fragmentation of Syria”. Asked what signal Russian President Vladimir Putin could give, he said: “Convince the (Syrian) government that there is no time to lose....And to win the peace, you have to have the courage to push the government to accept that there has to be a new constitution and new elections, through the United Nations.”