Russia, Turkey and Iran backed the talks but no agreement reached on makeup of a Syrian constitutional committee.
The Syrian government and armed opposition groups have failed to agree on the makeup of a constitutional committee, during two-day talks in Kazakhstan, led by Russia along with Iran and Turkey.
The parties will discuss the issue further at the next UN-brokered talks in Geneva, the three co-sponsors said in a joint statement after the talks in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan concluded on Friday.
Alexander Lavrentyev, the Russian negotiator, said the formation of the committee was “at the finish line”.
“The timing has not been agreed yet, taking into account the upcoming month of Ramadan, it is most likely to happen after that,” Lavrentyev told reporters on Friday.
“But I think by that time Mr [Geir] Pedersen [UN Special Envoy for Syria] will be able to announce” the establishment of the committee.
Forming a constitutional committee is key to political reforms and new elections meant to unify Syria and end an eight-year war which has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced about half of Syria’s prewar population of 22 million.
The constitutional committee is of particular interest to the UN, which favours a Syrian-led resolution to the conflict.
Russia, a backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has taken the lead role in diplomatic efforts in Kazakhstan that have largely sidelined UN diplomacy in Geneva.
Tehran, like Moscow, is an ally of al-Assad, while Ankara has aligned itself with the rebels, but has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish fighters on the Syrian side of its southern border that it views as “terrorists”.
