UN calls for speedy agreement US - Russia

The UN envoy who should organize talks to bring an end to the war in Syria, said he first hopes for a swift agreement between Russia and the United States.

De Mistura said he performs Tuesday talks in Moscow and then in Washington. According to him, the escalating violence makes it imperative to open dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition groups.

"What we must avoid at any price right now is a continuation of the conflict and a breakdown that is already being seen as a possibility and that we would consider to be dramatic," said De Mistura in Geneva. "The situation would be a kind of poisonous cocktail can be a combination of a towing Afghanistan with shades of Libya and Somalia. It is therefore necessary that an overriding political process now begins."

By the interference of Russia in the civil war, the situation has gotten a "new dynamic" and in a short time, a further 40 000 people adrift, said the envoy.