Syrian government returns to Geneva talks, Western envoys sceptical

FILE PHOTO - United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (2R) sits opposite to Syria's U.N. ambassador and chief negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari during a meeting of the Intra Syria talks in Geneva, Switzerland December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian government's delegation returned to Geneva on Sunday for the resumption of talks with United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura after more than a week's absence, but Western diplomats voiced scepticism about its willingness to engage.

Bashar al-Ja'afari, Syria's ambassador to the U.N. and chief negotiator in talks aimed at finding a political solution to end the nearly seven-year-old war, landed in a snowstorm on a flight from Beirut, a Reuters reporter on board said. Ja'afari declined to comment.