Efforts to launch talks aimed at ending the war in Syria have got off to a confusing start in Geneva but the opposition finally announced it had decided to take part following a first meeting between the UN envoy and representatives of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The late-night decision by the opposition’s negotiating committee, meeting in Saudi Arabia, came after hours of uncertainty and heavy diplomatic pressure on Friday, with rumour and speculation engulfing the Palais des Nations. Holding a few meetings looked like a significant achievement.

Ahmad Fawzi, the UN’s spokesman, hinted at the fast-moving and chaotic nature of the talks, telling reporters: “I don’t have a time, I don’t have the exact location, and I can’t tell you anything about the delegation.”



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Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy, held his first session of “proximity talks” with Syrian government delegates, who flew in from Damascus before any opposition representatives had arrived from Riyadh. The opposition had been in the Saudi capital debating whether to attend, due to their demand for an end to airstrikes and sieges not having been met. “It’s a mess,” shrugged one official.

Later, the Italian-Swedish UN veteran was due to see Syrian “independents” backed by Russia but considered too close to Assad to be part of the opposition. Syrian civil society activists were the next to be invited to emphasise the plight of the ordinary people caught up in the war.

On the broad plaza opposite the ornate 1930s building, its driveway flanked colourfully by the flags of UN member states, those realities were on grim display. Activists wearing chefs’ whites served up “siege soup” – a non-haute cuisine concoction of grass and leaves and a reminder of the only fare available to tens of thousands of people who live surrounded by government forces.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters serve ‘siege soup’ on the start of Syrian peace talks in Geneva. Photograph: Martial Trezzini/EPA

“The international community needs to push to create pressure on Assad and the Russians to make a political solution possible,” urged Salma Kahaly, an exiled Damascene from the PlanetSyria coalition. “Syrians want these negotiations to work because there is no military solution. But sieges are a war crime, not a negotiating tactic.”

The latest news from Syria was gloomily routine: in the Damascus area barrel bombs targeted Daraya and Muadamiyat al-Sham. In northern Latakia, fighting continued between rebels and government forces supported by Russian airstrikes.

Reports from the Saudi capital described an anguished but determined mood. Riyadh Hijab, head of the opposition negotiations body, had flatly refused to start talks with De Mistura until the UN’s own commitment to humanitarian access and a cessation of attacks had been implemented.

Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, telephoned and urged Hijab to turn up, arguing that failure to do so would hand Assad “a propaganda coup”. British, French, and American officials and advisers hammered home the same point. The result was a formal announcement that the opposition had “decided to participate in the Geneva talks after receiving American and United Nations guarantees.” De Mistura called that “a good signal”. The two sides are still unlikely to meet face to face.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A man holds a placard during a demonstration outside the UN offices in Geneva. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty

The Syrian government team, led by the country’s UN ambassador, Bashar al-Jaafari, said nothing either on arrival at the Palais des Nations or when it left. But it will not be shy about presenting its case – especially in attacking its opponents as “terrorists”. Damascus is keen to emphasise that the chief opposition negotiator is an official of the Saudi-backed Jaysh al-Islam group – something that many secular anti-Assad Syrians also dislike.

Lobbying and arm-twisting went on all day. Jaafari met the Russian ambassador to the UN, Alexey Borodavkin, before his session with De Mistura – a sign of the close coordination between Moscow and Damascus that parallels the relations between the Syrian opposition and the western and Arab governments that support it.

Syria apart, it was a normal day for the UN. Experts from different agencies gave briefings on migration, health and a campaign to curb the portrayal of smoking in films – global issues that can be at least mitigated by international cooperation. “We have all the news that is fit to print,” quipped one veteran official – recognition that alleviating, let alone solving, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is a mission from hell.

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De Mistura, the third UN envoy appointed to handle the Syrian war since it erupted nearly five years ago, plans to hold talks for six months, exploring prospects for ceasefires, action against Isis and improved humanitarian access. The longer-term goal is setting up a transitional government to draft a new constitution and hold elections within 18 months. But the central question of Assad’s future is still not on the table.

When Syrian peace talks were held in Geneva two years ago, nothing at all was achieved. Expectations this time round could hardly be lower – certainly over reaching a negotiated political settlement. Yet signs are that the goals may be becoming less ambitious. “The least we can hope for,” said one senior diplomat, “is a significant reduction in violence and guarantees to protect civilian areas.”