UN envoy doubts whether Syria peace talks could take place in July

Delegates from the United Nations, the United States and Russia arrived at the Palais des Nations in Geneva Tuesday afternoon for a new tripartite meeting to further the preparations for the international conference on Syria backed by the U.S. and Russia. Senior officials attending the meeting include UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, and Russian Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov. It was the second time for the high-ranking officials from the three parties to hold such a tripartite meeting to discuss preparation work for an international conference on Syria which was initiated by Russia and United States. "I doubt whether this [international] conference will take place in July," said Brahimi before attending the closed-door preparation meeting held this afternoon. The previous tripartite meeting, held on June 5, failed to set a date for the international conference, dubbed Geneva II. After that meeting, Brahimi said it would not be possible that the international conference on Syria to be held in June, and they would continue the consultations with Russia and the U.S. to see "windows of opportunities" to hold the conference as soon as possible, hopefully in July.