U.N. Syria Mediator Reports Some Progress in Peace Talks<br />Mr. said that Wi<br />But the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said his delegation had met with officials of Russia, Mr. Assad’s most important ally, and<br />that they all had expressed "satisfaction with the course of the talks in Geneva, despite the attempts by some sides to foil these talks." The Geneva negotiations are separate from, but related to, talks held in Astana, Kazakhstan, led by Russia and Turkey, that have sought to strengthen and expand a tenuous cease-fire in parts of Syria.<br />While Mr. de Mistura said he expected that both Mr. Assad’s government<br />and the coalition of opposition groups would continue to publicly denounce each other, "this is part of the rhetoric." In private, he said: "I know what I heard and what I saw.<br />The diplomat, Staffan de Mistura, said discussions of counterterrorism<br />and security had been added to the list of topics to be addressed on the agenda to end the war, which is about to enter its seventh year.<br />The progress on defining what the Syrian antagonists would even talk about spoke volumes about the frustrations<br />that have vexed Mr. de Mistura in the talks, which have been held off and on for years and have been punctuated by acrimony and false hope.<br />Even now, Mr. de Mistura said, the team of Syrian government negotiators<br />and the opposition representatives use him as an intermediary to exchange positions.
