A United Nations mediator called on Russia and the United States to salvage a "barely alive" cease-fire in Syria to revitalize faltering peace talks.
"How can you have substantial talks when you have only news about bombing and shelling?" UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said on April 27 after adjourning a two-week round of talks in Geneva.
De Mistura said that just in the past 48 hours, one Syrian has been killed every 25 minutes in renewed fighting.
"There is no reason that both [Russia and the United States], which have been putting so much political capital in that success story and have a common interest in not seeing Syria ending up in another cycle of war, should not be able to revitalize [the cease-fire] they created and which is still alive, but barely," he said.
The talks faltered last week after the main opposition High Negotiations Committee pulled out in protest of alleged cease-fire violations by the Syrian regime.
After briefing the UN Security Council, De Mistura said he hopes to open a fresh round of talks in May, but hasn't set a date.
