国际英语资讯:Yearender: Syria aspires for political solution to civil war after IS collapse_时事

国际英语资讯:Yearender: Syria aspires for political solution to civil war after IS collapse

The latest round of talks ended earlier this month, where the opposition renewed its stance that President Bashar al-Assad should leave as a prelude to the political solution, while the government maintained that no preconditions should be set ahead of the talks, and tried to give priority to counter-terrorism.

On Dec. 14, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura warned against the repercussion of the failure of the eighth round of the Geneva talks.

He said two weeks of talks failed to yield the intended results despite great efforts, which he described as a "missed golden opportunity."

In parallel with the Geneva talks were several rounds of talks in Astana, which were supported by Russia, Turkey and Iran. The Astana talks achieved the de-escalation zones deal for the cease-fire in four major hotspots in Syria.

The first zone includes parts of the northwestern province of Idlib, as well as parts of the countryside of Latakia Province in northwestern Syria, western areas of Aleppo Province in northern Syria and northern areas of Hama Province in central Syria.

The second zone includes Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus, while the third one includes the towns of Rastan and Talbiseh in the northern countryside of Homs Province in central Syria.

The fourth zone includes areas in the southern provinces of Daraa and Qunaitera.

Eyes are now shifted toward the upcoming talks in Sochi brokered by Russia, Iran, and Turkey, particularly after the visit of Assad to Sochi last month and the visit of Putin to Syria this month.