U.N. says Astana meeting on Syria a missed opportunity, no progress

U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

GENEVA/ASTANA (Reuters) - Russia, Turkey and Iran failed to make any tangible progress in setting up a Syrian constitutional committee at a meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana, the office of U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said in a statement on Thursday.

"Special Envoy de Mistura deeply regrets ... there was no tangible progress in overcoming the ten-month stalemate on the composition of the constitutional committee," it said.