A new round of UN-led talks aimed at ending Syria's six-year war will take place in Geneva from November 28, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said Thursday.
De Mistura, speaking to the United Nations Security Council via teleconference from Geneva, said the next round of talks should focus on the drafting of a new constitution and on a path toward United Nations-verified elections.
The talks will follow up on a meeting next week in the Kazakh capital of Astana between Russia, Iran and Turkey that is also aimed at achieving a settlement.
De Mistura told the UN Security Council that with the defeat of terror group ISIS in their strongholds of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, the Syrian peace process had reached a "moment of truth."
"We need to get the parties into real negotiations," the envoy said.
Seven rounds of talks have achieved only incremental progress toward a political deal, with negotiations deadlocked over the fate of Syrian regime head Bashar al-Assad.
The opposition is demanding that any settlement provide for a transition of power to end Assad's rule but as government forces make gains on the battleground, there is little likelihood of a breakthrough on that issue.
The Geneva talks -- the eight round convened by the United Nations -- must focus on steps toward drafting a new constitution and holding UN-supervised elections in Syria, De Mistura said.
More than 330,000 people have died and millions have been driven from their homes in the conflict in Syria.
