GENEVA - The UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday that he is planning to extend the ongoing UN-led Syrian peace talks till Dec 15.
The new round of the talks, started on Tuesday, was originally scheduled to close on Dec 1.
De Mistura described the talks this week as "professional and serious" when he addressed a press briefing on the intra-Syrian talks which began in Geneva with low expectations on their outcome.
De Mistura described the atmosphere as different to previous times "on both sides".
"The biggest obstacle is trust," said de Mistura, noting that this has always been the case in the Syrian negotiations. "We have to have a process of political dialogue; there is not military solution," he said.
The Syrian opposition delegation arrived for the start of the talks on Tuesday, while the government delegation under Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari arrived a day later.