Fabrice Coffrini, AFP | UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura (let) sits with Syria's main opposition group during peace talks at the UN Offices in Geneva on February 1, 2016

Syrian peace talks gained a measure of momentum on Monday with UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura declaring the start of indirect negotiations, even as a political solution to the raging conflict in Syria remained far off.

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De Mistura has struggled to get regime and opposition representatives around the negotiating table, and get enough support from world powers, for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire after five years of bloody civil war.

He said the arrival of a delegation from the main Syrian opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, to the UN offices in Geneva was enough to allow him to declare the talks formally open.

"We are actually listening with attention to the concerns of the HNC, and we are going to tomorrow discuss and listen to the concerns of the government," de Mistura told reporters after Monday's meeting.

But inflammatory comments by HNC spokesman Salem al-Mislet on Monday highlighted just how difficult it will be for Mistura to reach a deal.

Al-Mislet said Russian President Vladimir Putin could be a "new Hitler" in Moscow, who supported another Hitler in Damascus, in reference to President Bashar al-Assad.

It was the harshest criticism targeting Russia since Putin launched an air campaign in Syria four months ago in support of Assad's troops.

Government forces have taken dozens of towns and villages in recent weeks under the cover of Russian air strikes.

"The regime is the one killing the Syrian people," al-Mislet said when asked by a reporter working for a Russian media outlet about the participation of a representative of the militant Army of Islam group that is in the opposition's delegation.

De Mistura laid out the opposition's concerns and said he planned to take up further talks in a new meeting with government representatives on Tuesday morning, before hosting the HNC again in the afternoon.

He said his first goal is simply to keep the talks going, and his overall aim is to help show concrete progress for embattled Syrians.

‘Not just the interest of Syria’

Meanwhile, world leaders announced they would gather in London on Thursday to try to raise $9 billion for the millions of Syrians hit by the war and a refugee crisis spanning the Middle East and Europe.

The donor conference, the fourth of its kind, hopes to meet the UN's demand for $7.73 billion to help Syria plus $1.23 billion assistance for countries in the region affected by the crisis.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will host more than 70 international leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

On Monday, the United Nations said that the Syrian government had approved “in principle” a UN request for aid deliveries to the western town of Madaya, under siege from government forces, as well as the towns of al-Foua and Kefraya. No date has yet been given for the aid shipments.

The war, which began with protests against Assad in March 2011, has claimed more than 260,000 lives and caused a major humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has forced 4.6 million Syrians to seek refuge in countries in the region – Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt – while hundreds of thousands have attempted to reach Europe, sometimes paying with their lives while making the risky crossing of the Mediterranean.

"This is not just in the interests of Syria and her neighbours," he added. "It is in the interests of Europe too. The more we do to enable people to stay in the region, the less likely we are to see them coming to Europe."

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)

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