France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday there was no perspective of a political solution for Syria other than U.N.-led peace talks in Vienna, which he said were the “last hope”.
“Today, there is no political perspective that presents itself, other than — and it’s the last hope — the meeting that will be held in Vienna tomorrow under the auspices of the United Nations, where the belligerents will be present and where we hope a peace agenda will be mapped out,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told French lawmakers.
Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, has invited the Syrian government and opposition to a two-day meeting in the Austrian capital.
It comes at a time when there is little sign of any political breakthrough and a few days before Russia, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, convenes a Syrian congress in Sochi.
De Mistura has presided over a series of Syrian talks in Geneva, with a mandate to discuss new elections, reformed governance, a new constitution and the fight against terrorism.
The warring sides have never talked face-to-face, and it was only in the eighth round last December, that the opposition united in one delegation, raising hopes of direct talks for the first time.
But the Syrian government delegation objected to the opposition’s tough line on the future of Assad, and the talks achieved nothing.
“By definition I am optimistic… it’s a very critical moment. Very, very critical,” De Mistura told reporters in Vienna, adding that both sides had promised to send full delegations.
