Brahimi plans to keep meeting the two sides separately for the next few days in hopes of improving the negotiating atmosphere at the Geneva talks, where a second session, expected to last a week, began on Monday.
The first face-to-face meetings mediated by U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi adjourned 10 days ago having achieved little beyond getting the warring sides into the same room. Brahimi began holding separate closed-door meetings with the government and opposition delegations Monday to try to set an agenda for the coming week. Prospects for common ground appear unlikely as the two sides continue to disagree on the core issue of President Bashar Assad's future. Fighting has escalated since the first round, with violence disrupting food distribution meant to ease the plight of civilians in the central city of Homs and near Damascus.