Little hope for breakthrough in sixth round of Syria peace talks

The sixth round of United Nations-led Syria peace talks in Geneva seems nowhere closer to a peaceful solution to the current situation in Syria.

According to CGTN correspondent Richard Bestic, the talks began with a toxic background. Though both sides showed up, in the words of UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura, “the differences so great it's not possible” for them to be in the same room.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denounced the talks as nothing and the United States, although not a participant, has raised tensions further by accusing the Syrian leader of launching industrial level killing at a prison near the capital Damascus. The US State Department said the Syrian government had even built a crematorium to cover up the thousands of deaths at the prison. Damascus has denied the allegations.

The peace talks in Geneva are supposed to focus on issues of governance, elections, the constitution and counter terrorism, but the reality is that both sides are fixated with what should happen to al-Assad in the event of any agreement. He's staying put, according to backers in Iran and Russia, a possibility seen as unacceptable by the rebel opposition, the US and the European Union.

Furthermore, the talks are also tracked by a parallel peace plan, the Astana Agreement endorsed by Russia, Iran and Turkey. The talks in Geneva are scheduled to continue until Friday.

(CGTN)