The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura and UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien (not in picture) hold a press conference after meeting of the Humanitarian Access Task Force in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 9, 2016. The UN special envoy for Syria said Friday that he hoped Friday's meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov here in Geneva will catalyse a turning point for Syria, a country at war since 2011. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
GENEVA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The UN special envoy for Syria said Friday that he hoped that Friday's meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov here in Geneva will catalyse a turning point for Syria, a country at war since 2011.
"We are all hoping for positive conclusions. The discussions are addressing complex, delicate and difficult issues,"the special envoy Staffan de Mistura explained.
"If they do succeed... the conclusions could make a major difference on the renewal of the cessation of hostilities which in turn would have a major impact on humanitarian access and in turn would have a positive impact on the way the political process could be relaunched," he added.
According to UN figures, 1,275,750 people living in besieged and hard-to-reach areas have received aid since relief operation kicked off in February this year, a figure which has remained unchanged for weeks now as convoys are denied the access to areas host to thousands of desperate civilians.
The situation is particularly alarming in Aleppo, where government forces and rebel groups are engaged in fierce fighting in a bid to control what was once Syria's largest city.
The UN has repeatedly called for a 48-hour weekly ceasefire to be installed so that aid convoys can safely deliver supplies to the city's population.
De Mistura said that it is crucial that the United States and Russia bridge remaining gaps so that tangible progress can be made to cater to the needs of the Syrian people.
"The priority is for the two co-chairs to come up with an agreed position," he said.
Kerry and his Russian counterpart kicked off the talks here in Geneva on Friday morning to discuss issues on Syria.
Meetings are taking place in the same luxurious lakeside hotel as two weeks ago when the two officials reached "clarity" on the way forward in enhancing cooperation between both countries.
