UN envoy mediates Russia-US talks on Syrian conflict, hopes for peace conference after July

GENEVA – Envoys from Russia and the United States have begun another round of talks at the United Nations looking for ways to move toward a political settlement for the Syrian civil war.

The U.N. special representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, says he still hopes international negotiations begun last year in Switzerland can be re-launched at a second peace conference in Geneva sometime after July.

Brahimi arrived in Geneva to mediate a daylong meeting between Wendy Sherman, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Russian deputy foreign ministers Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov.

He told reporters at the outset of the talks, however, that he could not be certain they could immediately resolve basic questions about how and when to hold another Geneva conference, including who should participate.