UN envoy in Syria for talks as West sees Russian build-up

The UN envoy for Syria discussed his peace proposals with officials in Damascus today, as Western fears grow that Russia is ramping up military support for President Bashar al-Assad.
Experts said Russia's steadfast backing for Assad and the growing waves of Syrians seeking refuge in the West might force Europe to abandon its goal of regime change to achieve peace.
The UN's Syria pointman Staffan de Mistura held talks with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem during his sixth visit to Damascus in search of an end to a four-year-old war in which 240,000 people have died.
"We will continue the meetings," de Mistura told reporters afterwards, declining to elaborate.

The visit comes after the envoy was strongly criticised by the Syrian government last month for "making statements that lack objectivity and facts" about deadly regime air raids.
According to Syria's official news agency SANA, de Mistura met with Muallem to address the regime's questions about the envoy's proposed 60-page peace plan.
The initiative, set to begin this month, was submitted to Damascus in mid-August and would set up four working groups to address safety and protection, counter-terrorism, political and legal issues and reconstruction.
But de Mistura on Thursday said the groups' work would be "for brainstorming and would not be binding," according to his office's spokeswoman Jessy Chahine.