Russia, Iran and Turkey, supporters of the main sides in Syria’s complex civil war, on Tuesday failed to agree on the makeup of a United Nations-sponsored Syrian constitutional committee but called for it to convene early next year to kick off a viable peace process.
In a joint statement read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after the trio met the UN Syria peace envoy, Staffan de Mistura, in Geneva, they said the new initiative should be guided “by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement”.
The foreign ministers of the three nations had hoped to seal their joint proposal on a committee – which could usher in elections – and win UN blessing for it.