FILE PHOTO: U.N. special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura reacts during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia November 24, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian government and opposition negotiators meeting in Geneva this week will have the chance to hold direct talks for the first time, but it is not clear if they will take it, the U.N. envoy mediating the talks told reporters on Tuesday.

“We are going to offer it. We will see if this takes place. But we will be offering that,” Staffan de Mistura said after meeting the opposition delegation at their hotel.