The US State Department said on Saturday it will not send a delegation from Washington to attend Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital next week due to immediate demands of the transition. The State Department's acting spokesperson Mark Toner said US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol, would attend the January 23 Russian-led talks as an observer. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday he hoped the new administration of President Donald Trump would send a Middle East expert to the talks. UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura has said he intends to convene separate peace talks in Geneva on Febuary 8. Russia says the Kazakh talks would complement, rather than compete with, the UN talks.

Source: Egypt Independent January 22, 2017 09:00 UTC