Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the Syria negotiations in Geneva

UN Special Envoy de Mistura will be resuming the negotiations in Geneva today. Our expectations are clear: we want both delegations to actively seek solutions and to refrain from playing for time. We again find ourselves at a critical juncture. The intensity of fighting has increased in recent days. The ceasefire and everything we have achieved will be in jeopardy if all sides do not help to bring the situation under control.

Moreover, it is clear to us that free and fair elections are inconceivable under the current conditions in which hundreds of thousands of people are even being refused access to food and medicine. So-called elections of this kind should most certainly not be used as a pretext to delay the peace talks. The road map agreed upon in Vienna and Munich by all stakeholders must be followed: first a transitional government, then constitutional reform, then elections in line with international standards.