Staffan de Mistura

The U.N. peace envoy to Syria is hopeful for a freeze of hostilities in Aleppo, U.N. Special Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura's spokesperson Juliette Touma told daily Hürriyet following the talks between Syrian political and military opposition groups in Turkey.

The U.N. peace envoy to Syria on Dec. 9 rejected suggestions that a proposed truce in the northern city of Aleppo would play into President Bashar al-Assad's hands, saying it was a stepping stone in a political process and vital to allowing in aid.
   

Paris is pushing for "safe zones" to be set up in Syria where citizens would be out of reach of regime forces and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Nov. 25.

Fabius said the country was working alongside U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura who has proposed a "freeze" in fighting in Syria's second city of Aleppo.

The United Nations peace envoy to Syria said on Nov. 11 that Syrian officials had given him positive signals on a U.N. proposal for a local truce in the northern city of Aleppo, a main battleground in Syria's three-year-old war.

The world must confront "terrorist groups" in Syria and beyond but the war-ravaged country also requires a political solution, the U.N.'s new envoy on the conflict said in Damascus on Sept. 11.

Staffan de Mistura, the new United Nations envoy on the Syrian crisis, arrived in Damascus on Sept. 9 for his first visit since being appointed to the post.

De Mistura was seen arriving at his hotel at the beginning of a trip expected to last three days and include meetings with Syrian government officials and members of the tolerated domestic opposition.

Staffan de Mistura, the new United Nations envoy on the Syrian crisis, arrived in Damascus on Sept. 9 for his first visit since being appointed to the post.

De Mistura was seen arriving at his hotel at the beginning of a trip expected to last three days and include meetings with Syrian government officials and members of the tolerated domestic opposition.

Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura will be the new U.N. mediator for Syria, taking on the Herculean task of finding a political solution to the devastating civil war, diplomats say.