UN Syria envoy meets Lavrov ahead of peace talks resumption

Moscow: The United Nations envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow Tuesday as he looked to lay the groundwork for peace talks expected to resume next week.

The visit came as the UN said the talks will likely restart in Geneva on April 11, but that regime negotiators would only arrive several days later, after the completion of parliamentary elections in the country.

"I plan to go to other locations, Tehran, Damascus, Ankara, Riyadh, in order to prepare better, but it's really important to start here in Moscow," de Mistura said at the start of the meeting.

"Moscow has been instrumental to what can be seen as the real momentum in the political solution."

Russian forces intervened in Syria last year in support of long-time ally, President Bashar al-Assad. Russia's support has helped Assad's regime make major advances, including recapturing the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State jihadists. 

The last round of peace talks broke up on March 24, without making any concrete advances towards a political solution to the country's devastating five-year war.

Assad's fate remaining a major sticking point, with the opposition demanding he leave power before any transitional government is agreed.