Staffan de Mistura

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said Feb. 5 that Russia's air strikes in Syria targeting rebel forces are "undermining" efforts to find a peaceful solution to the five-year war.

Syrian peace talks in Geneva earlier this week broke up acrimoniously as Moscow's long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad launched a fresh offensive against rebel forces in Aleppo with massive Russian backing.

The US and France have accused President Bashar al-Assad's regime of undermining talks to end Syria's civil war, which were suspended hours before donors were due to meet on Feb. 4 to raise aid for the conflict-torn country.

Shutting down smuggling across the Turkish-Syrian border is a condition for halting Russia's bombing campaign in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said as peace talks in Geneva began to encounter more difficulty.

It will be difficult to impose a cease-fire unless Syria's border with Turkey is secured to prevent smuggling and the movement of fighters, he said.

Russia will not stop its air strikes on Syria until armed groups, such as al-Qaeda's wing there, are defeated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Feb. 3. 

On Feb. 2, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russia should stop bombing opposition forces in Syria now that U.N.-led peace talks have started. 

Syria's main opposition group said Feb. 2 that it will not attend a planned afternoon meeting with the U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura, adding further doubts about the prospects for peace talks in Switzerland.

"There is no meeting with de Mistura," said Farah Atassi, member of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC).  

Talks between the UN special envoy for Syria and government representatives tentatively planned for Feb. 1 11:00 am (1000 GMT) in Geneva have been "rescheduled" to allow talks with the opposition first, the UN said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir on Jan. 31 voiced support for Syrian opposition figures who have travelled to Geneva for UN-brokered peace talks.

The U.N. Syria envoy said yesterday that he was "optimistic and determined" following an informal meeting with the main opposition group, after it had threatened to leave before planned peace talks begin in earnest as fresh violence hit the country. 

The United Nations said on Jan. 29 it still expects Syria peace talks in Geneva to begin later in the day, despite uncertainty over whether key opposition groups would attend.
 
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura "will start by meeting the government's delegation today (Friday)" headed by Syria's UN ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, the UN said in a statement.
   

A major Syrian opposition group Jan. 27 postponed a decision on joining peace talks in Switzerland, as wrangling over who will go threatened to derail the biggest push yet to resolve the war.