Syrian government holds off on attending UN peace talks

Syrian peace talks set to open in Geneva this week hit a roadblock when President Bashar al-Assad's government refused to confirm it was attending and instead told the United Nations that no delegation would be arriving today.
The eighth round of UN-led talks, scheduled to begin today, was seen as an opportunity to achieve progress toward ending the devastating six-year war after the opposition sent a united delegation to Geneva.
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, however, told the Security Council that during weekend talks with his deputy, "the government did not yet confirm its participation in Geneva but indicated that we would be hearing from them soon."

"Last night, we received a message that the government would not travel to Geneva today," De Mistura said via videoconference from the Swiss city.
Assad said last week, after a meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin, that he was ready for talks.
"Naturally we know, and indeed expect, that the government will be on its way shortly," De Mistura said, "particularly in light of President Assad's commitment to President Putin when they met in Sochi."
Amid the uncertainty over the Geneva talks, Russia has proposed holding a "congress" to bring together the government and opposition in Sochi, the Russian resort city on the Black Sea. But so far it has set no date for that gathering.

Moscow is seeking UN support for the Sochi meeting, but De Mistura told the council that it was "premature" for him to declare his backing for the initiative.