UN envoy: Syria peace talks not to be held in June

The United Naitons and Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday that it will not be possible for the Geneva conference on Syria, initiated by Russia and United States, to be held in June. "There is still a lot of work to do to bring a conference about. For this reason, we have come to a conclusion that it will not be possible to hold this conference in June," Brahimi said after meetings with senior officials of Russia and the U.S.. "We will be continuing our consultations with Russia and the U.S. to identify windows of opportunities to hold the conference as soon as possible, hopefully in July," he said. The goal of the conference will be to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Syria through a comprehensive agreement between the Syrian government and oppositions for the full implementation of the June 30, 2012 Action Group Communique and in particular all aspects of the agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led transition, he said. Brahimi told reporters that the conference would begin with high-level meetings over two days, chaired by the UN Secretary-General, followed by intensive negotiations between the two Syrian parties. Russia and the U.S. will play an important role throughout the process, he said. They will meet again for another preparatory meeting on June 25, said Brahimi. UN Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, and Russian Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov attended Wednesday's meeting, discussing preparation work for the conference. U.S. and Russia agreed in early May to sponsor another international conference in Geneva to end the 26-month conflict.