WASHINGTON — With an 11-day-old partial truce having dramatically reduced if not ended violence in Syria, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said he planned to resume proximity talks between the Syrian government and the opposition on a political transition process starting March 14. The intra-Syrian talks, to be held at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, could last up to 10 days, he said.

“When we start having the talks on Monday, God willing, the focus will be on substance, on the agendas — in other words, on new governance, constitution and elections, the future elections in 18 months’ time, both presidential and parliamentarian,” de Mistura told journalists March 9 in Geneva. 

“At the end of the day, the cease-fire and humanitarian aid alone are not a solution,” de Mistura said. “The solution is a political transition in Syria, facilitated, made credible to the Syrian people by incremental humanitarian assistance, and an incremental, more or less sustainable … and — quite unbelievable after five years of war — cessation of hostilities or reduction of hostilities. That’s basically the plan.”

While the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) had not yet formally replied if it will attend, there were signs March 9 that it probably would. The fact that the agenda for the intra-Syrian talks that de Mistura outlined would “start with discussion of the matter of political transition” is positive, HNC spokesman Salem al-Muslat told Reuters.