A senior UN official has arrived in Syria to organize talks between the Damascus government and foreign-backed militants with a view to ending war in the largest city of Aleppo.
Ramzi Ezzedine Ramzi, deputy to the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, touched down in Damascus on Saturday and is scheduled to hold a series of negotiations with Syrian officials and militants in the coming days.
Earlier this week, de Mistura held "constructive" talks on Aleppo with representatives of armed and non-armed groups in Gaziantep, Turkey.
The veteran Swedish-Italian diplomat announced his plan to press for what he referred to as a "freeze" in fighting in late October, following unsuccessful efforts to negotiate a resolution to the foreign-backed militancy in Syria.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed his willingness to discuss the plan to cease skirmishes in the major northern city of Aleppo, situated 310 kilometers (193 miles) north of the capital, Damascus.
The flashpoint city has been divided into militant and government-held territories since July 2012.