UN Syria envoy meets Iran, Russia, Turkey diplomats

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Tuesday continued to meet diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey in Geneva to discuss the process of moving forward to end the Syrian conflict with constitution-related discussions.

The UN envoy did not speak to journalists after his discussion. But head of media for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, Rheal LeBlanc, said at a UN press briefing that the talks were continuing Tuesday and would pick up again on Friday.

Regarding the peace talks, de Mistura said earlier in Geneva that his discussions with the senior Russian, Turkish and Iranian officials taking place on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 for the new process are the best "roadmap we can see".

Tuesday's talks will be followed on Sept. 14 by further encounters with senior delegations from seven other states -- Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States.

De Mistura's talks Tuesday came as top UN officials were expressing deep concern about the humanitarian consequences of an expected assault on Idlib, where an imminent offensive by the Syrian forces, aided by Russia, is likely to take place.

Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), read a statement released by Panos Moumtzis, regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria Crisis, on Escalation of Violence in Northwest Syria.

"The latest escalation is again impacting civilians in a dramatic way. Our fear as humanitarians is the worst may be ahead of us," said Laerke reading from the statement.

"The safety and protection of some 2.9 million civilians residing in Idleb and surrounding areas is at risk. This includes some 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), the majority of whom are women and children, who came to the region from other areas."

Idlib is one of the four "de-escalation zones" in Syria agreed under a deal reached last year by Iran, Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan's capital Astana. The other three have all been violated.

While most of the people in Idlib are civilians, terrorist organizations, foreign fighters and armed opposition groups have also gathered in Idlib.