Putin Must Nudge Syria Into UN Peace Deal -- Mediator
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has urged Russia to convince the Syrian government of the need to reach a peace deal to end the nearly seven-year-old war.
De Mistura, speaking on Swiss television station RTS on December 13, said failure to make peace quickly through United Nations mediation could lead to "a fragmentation of Syria."
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a surprise visit on December 11 to Russia's Hmeymim air base in Syria, declared that the mission of Russian forces was largely completed in backing the Assad government against Islamic State militants.
De Mistura, asked what signal Putin could give, said: "Convince the (Syrian) government that there is no time to lose.... You can think you win territory militarily but you have to win the peace.
"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," he said.
The civil war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven more than 11 million from their homes.
