de Mistura, Kerry, Lavrov
© APStaffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wait for the start of an international conference on the Syria conflict in Vienna, Austria, November 14, 2015.
The United Nations special envoy for Syria says the UN as well as Russia and the United States will hold talks over the deadly conflict gripping Syria in the Swiss city of Geneva later this week. Staffan de Mistura told Reuters on Wednesday that the trilateral Geneva negotiations, scheduled for December 11, were part of the preparatory work for a new round of international negotiations seeking to find a solution to the crisis. "It's to talk about how to better organize the future Vienna meetings," the UN envoy said.

The news of the three-way Geneva meeting was first broke by Russia's Ria Novosti news agency, citing Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov. The Russian diplomat said, "We will present our vision of the situation (in Syria), with emphasis on the need to intensify the fight against terrorism. It is a priority for us. We call for an increase in joint efforts in this area."

Two rounds of such international talks, attended by Iran, were held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on October 30 and November 14. At the end of the mid-November round of the Vienna negotiations, the participants agreed to meet again in "approximately one month" to review progress toward a ceasefire and the start of a political process in Syria.

Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced the fresh talks on the conflict and diplomats said the negotiations were likely to be held in New York on December 18.