GENEVA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office of the Special Envoy for Syria did not confirm Friday a statement issued by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that intra-Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin in Geneva on Feb. 8 would be postponed until the end of next month.
"There is no confirmation that the February talks are postponed," the special envoy's spokesperson Yara Sharif told reporters.
The special envoy will have a better idea of whether or not negotiations will take place as planned once he has briefed the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council in New York next week, Sharif said.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, had planned to reconvene Syrian warring factions back to the negotiating table on Feb. 8 in a bid to broker a political solution to the conflict.
The Syrian internal war has claimed some 400,000 lives and displaced millions since it broke out in March 2011.
De Mistura had also hoped that Russia and Turkish-brokered talks which took place in Kazakhstan's capital Astana earlier this week would reinforce a fragile truce in place since Dec. 30 while paving the way towards broader UN-mediated negotiations next month.
"Astana talks have provided a remarkable contribution for the exerted efforts to push for peace in Syria," Sharif said.
"The UN asserts that a comprehensive ceasefire is pivotal for reaching a political solution which is the only path of achieving peace in Syria brought about by intra-Syrian negotiations under the aegis of the UN," she added.
