De Mistura to Meet With Trump for Clarification of Stance on Syria

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that he plans to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump during his visit to the United States.

ROME(Sputnik) — UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Saturday he planned to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump in the near future to learn his position on the Syrian crisis.

"I don't know what the position of President Trump [on Syria] is. We will be going to New York and Washington soon, and I think we will have some ideas and will see more of that," de Mistura said at the 2016 Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome.

The envoy recalled that Trump had repeatedly spoke about his plans to find an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on combating the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group, which is outlawed in Russia and the United States, among many other counties.

Syria has been in the state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting the so-called moderate opposition and the militant groups. Moscow and Washington have been actively engaged in mediating Syria talks and searching for a solution to the conflict, despite different views on Syria's future.

The latest ceasefire in Syria, mediated by Russia and the United States, crashed in early September.