After hosting the seventh round of Syrian peace talks, the UN envoy for Syria say he has seen no sign that the government of President Bashar al-Assad has given any ground on possible political transition.
Instead, Staffan de Mistura wrapped up the latest session of the intra-Syrian talks aimed to help end the country's blistering six-year war by turning his focus to one of the Assad government's main talking points: The fight against terrorism.
Syria's main opposition group has strived unsuccessfully to put the spotlight on "political transition" as sought under a Security Council resolution in December 2015. It has been a bedrock text upon which de Mistura's efforts have been based. The UN envoy said Friday "I don't have any indication" that Assad's envoys will ever address political transition.