The 8th round of talks in Geneva to reach a solution in the civil war in Syria will start on Tuesday under the lead of the United Nations (UN). UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura joined the UN Security Council via video conference this evening before the talks and gave information on the talks.

De Mistura said they received a message last night from the regime committee that was to participate in Geneva 8 that said they would not be able to come, and added: “The regime committee has still not approved the decision to participate in the 8th round of the Geneva talks. I hope this approval comes soon and they will participate in the talks like they said they would.”

De Mistura said the 8th round in the Geneva talks will begin if both parties go to Geneva and stressed in clear terms that the prerequisites of either party will definitely not be accepted in the talks.

De Mistura also added that the talks were to be held under the guidelines of the UN Security Council’s Syria decrees No.2254 and stated that the focus will be on the new constitution, elections, security and the fight against terror. De Mistura said representatives from some 200 Syrian NGOs will also be going to Geneva next week, as well as the regime committee and the opposition, and added that with support from international powers, they want to take steps regarding Syria’s future this time around.