Syrians talk peace in Vienna prior to Russian meeting

January 26th, 20180 VIENNA — U.N.-brokered peace talks with the Syrian government and the opposition began on Thursday, a few days before separate negotiations hosted by Damascus's close ally Russia that the West views with suspicion. "The meeting was good," the head of the Syrian government delegation, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told Reuters as he left the...

Syrian top negotiator blames West, Saudis and U.N. for failed Geneva peace talks

December 15th, 20170 GENEVA — Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari accused a Syrian opposition group, backed by Western countries and Saudi Arabia, of sabotaging a round of U.N.-led peace talks that ended in Geneva on Thursday without any results. He said Damascus did not want the talks to fail, but the opposition had put down a precondition...