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UN envoy launches new round of Syria talks amid cease-fire

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The U.N. envoy for Syria has started a new round, the seventh so far, of indirect talks between Syrian government and opposition leaders in Geneva.

The talks are expected to last through the week. They come as a cease-fire in Syria, brokered by the U.S. and Russian presidents, has gone into effect in the country's south.

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura declined to comment on his expectations but was due to hold a news conference later on Monday.

De Mistura was meeting first with envoys from Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, before a meeting later with opposition representatives.

The U.N.-led diplomatic efforts seek partly to ensure humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria and lay the groundwork for the day when Syria's civil war, now in its seventh year, finally ends.