The UN special envoy on Syria says he hopes an upcoming meeting between the US and Russian foreign ministers will give impetus to peace talks where the divisive issue of a political transition is stalling progress.
Syria's government delegation has rejected any discussion of the future of President Bashar al-Assad, who opposition leaders say must go as part of any transition.
Damascus has repeated its long-held view that "counter-terrorism" - its reference to rebel foes of Assad - should be the main focus of the process.
"We are looking with great interest, expectation, hope that the talks in Moscow will be productive," UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said after meeting the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC)in Geneva.
"Honestly not everything will be solved in one day - but (it would be) productive ... to resume the talks with a much more in-depth address on the issue of political transition," he said on Tuesday ahead of the planned meeting in Moscow between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
De Mistura, who tried to keep an air of optimism before the talks adjourn on Thursday, describes Syria's political transition as "the mother of all issues".
Emboldened by the Russian and US muscle that pushed the warring parties to the negotiating table, he has refused to drop the subject.
After five years of conflict that has killed over 250,000 and caused the world's worst refugee crisis, Washington and Moscow engineered a deal three weeks ago for a cessation of hostilities.
But the deal, not signed by any of the warring parties, remains fragile and diplomats are concerned that, after more than a week of talks, it is at risk of collapsing unless headway on the matter of political transition is made soon.
The fragile cessation of hostilities agreement has, however, reduced violence in western Syria, allowing more aid to be delivered.
A group of Syrian villages north of Homs under siege by government forces since 2012 received on Tuesday the first delivery since October last year, according to the Swiss-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
A convoy of 27 trucks containing medical, food, water treatment and other aid was sent to al-Houla, a rural district containing five villages and over 70,000 people, an ICRC spokesman said.
In coming weeks, the ICRC plans to enter other areas in northern rural Homs such as Rastan, Talbiseh, Ghanto, Termalie and Dar Kbiereh, where an estimated 270,000 people live.
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