[Breaking news update at 9:55 a.m. ET]
Peace talks on Syria that were scheduled to begin in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday have been delayed because of ongoing discussions about who should be invited to represent the opposition, the U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters.
At a news conference in Geneva, he said the talks would be delayed until Friday, with invitations to be issued Tuesday.
[Original story, last published at 7:42 a.m.]
(CNN) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart are urging the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria to announce a date soon for the start of Syrian peace talks, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Efforts to draw the warring Syrian sides to the negotiating table were scheduled to begin this week in Geneva.
The call by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came after the two spoke by phone Monday, the ministry said.
Kerry said the gathering of top stakeholders in Geneva will provide more insight on the way forward.
“We are trying to make absolutely certain that when they start that everybody is clear about roles and what is happening so you don’t go there and wind up with a question mark or a failure,” he said.
“You don’t want to start Day One not being able to make progress.”
Kerry said he also spoke to the U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey.
Their conversations were aimed at reaching a consensus on how a planned ceasefire would proceed.
“You have to get to the negotiations without preconditions and have to get to the ceasefire and lay down the road ahead for the transition discussion itself,” he said.
The Syrian civil war started nearly five years ago, when protesters took to the streets demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad’s regime repressed the protests, prompting clashes that escalated into a civil war. The United Nations estimates more than 300,000 people have been killed since then.
A bloody free-for-all
The Syrian civil war has become a bloody free-for-all as the opposition, government troops and Islamic State extremists fight for dominance.
“It’s not in our hands,” Kerry said. “If they are not serious, war will continue.”
Kerry slammed reports that Syria believes it is winning due to close ally Russia’s military action in the nation and as a result, Syria may not be as willing to make concessions.
“What does it mean they are winning? They control a tiny part of the country. Most is controlled by ISIL or by the Kurds or by someone else,” Kerry said, using the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
“That is not the Russian attitude, I will tell you that.”
Kerry said they will know “very quickly in a month or two or three” whether Syria, Russia and Iran are serious about negotiating.
Efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict have been hindered by strong opposition to the Assad regime, which is perceived as brutal, and by the fractured nature of the opposition, which includes the terrorist group ISIS as well as more moderate groups supported by the United States.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands killed, more than 4 million people have fled the country, many of them headed for Europe.
Kerry said world powers of the International Syria Support Group are tentatively scheduled to meet February 11 to address any problems that arise from the talks.