The UN's envoy to Syria met with its foreign minister in Damascus Thursday as part of ongoing efforts to negotiate a solution to the four-year war, state media said. "Staffan de Mistura presented the latest developments linked to his discussions and meetings in multiple countries" to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, the official SANA news agency reported. The Swedish-Italian diplomat has been holding meetings over the past two months with key players in the Syrian conflict to try to advance peace prospects. According to the UN's Geneva office, in July de Mistura has visited China, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, and Iran, which is one of the Syrian regime's main backers. He met Syrian opposition figures in both Amman and Cairo, and will brief the U.N. Security Council on his efforts on July 28. On Thursday, Muallem said he supported de Mistura's initiative to find a political solution and stressed that Syria continued to stand against extremism. "Syria still considers the end of terrorism, and the drying up of its financial resources and support, to be among the country's most essential priorities," Muallem was quoted as saying. Muallem also expressed support for a recent initiative floated by Russian President Vladimir Putin "to make a regional effort to end terrorism by implementing relevant U.N. security council resolutions." The Syrian government and its media describe as "terrorists" the various armed groups who have been battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad's regime since 2011. The Security Council has been divided over Syria, with Russia blocking resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Assad to end the war. De Mistura was appointed one year ago to take over what many termed a "mission impossible" to bring peace to Syria, after two top-notch diplomats, Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi, resigned after failing at the same task. More than 230,000 people have died in the conflict and almost half of the country's population has been driven from their homes.
