Michael Hernandez,Betül Yürük
October 26, 2017•Update: October 27, 2017
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
Syria and its opposition will engage in a new round of talks at the end of next month, the UN's envoy to Syria announced Thursday.
Speaking to the Security Council from Geneva, Staffan de Mistura said he wants the talks to focus on the Syrian Constitution and UN supervised elections.
The talks that begin Nov. 28 would be the eighth round under de Mistura's stewardship since 2016.
A new round of peace talks will take place in Kazakhstan's capital Astana Oct. 30-31, he said.
He said he hopes the Russia-Iran-Turkey co-sponsored Astana process would "prevent further unraveling of interim de-escalation and cease-fire arrangements.
"Now is the moment of truth," Mistura said, urging a renewed focus on a political settlement, according to reports.
*Betul Yuruk contributed to this report from the UN
