The United Nations' Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura arrived in Damascus on Sunday, two days after world powers and regional rivals met in Vienna to try to find a solution to the country's four-year civil war. De Mistura headed to meetings at Syria's foreign ministry, U.N. sources said, without giving further details of the visit. He last visited the Syrian capital in September. The Vienna talks Friday were attended by 17 countries, the European Union and United Nations, and brought face-to-face Iran, which backs President Bashar Assad, and Saudi Arabia, which supports insurgents fighting him. Participants called for a nationwide ceasefire and the renewal of stalled U.N.-brokered talks between the government and opposition, but failed to agree on the thorny issue of which role Assad should take in a future Syria. Russian military intervention in the war, which began a month ago in the form of an air campaign in support of Assad's forces, has intensified the conflict and brought renewed urgency to international efforts to end it. Moscow and Tehran back Assad, while the United States and its allies say he must leave power as part of any political solution.
