EU to host Syria conference in April

People walk along a damaged neighbourhood in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, Syria March 6, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday announced that the bloc will on April 5 host an international conference on Syria's future.

The EU will cochair the conference with the United Nations and with the governments of Germany, Kuwait, Norway, Qatar and Britain, Mogherini said at a press conference following a one-day Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

"We hope that the Brussels conference on April 5 can support strongly the UN work on the political track, but also try to establish a regional and international framework for that support, for the humanitarian work, but also for looking at the future, how we can, together, support the future of Syria and the region," she said.

Delegations from the Syrian government and the opposition on Friday wrapped up nine-day talks in Geneva.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that the talks has yielded tangible progress, and that he plans to reconvene with delegations later this month for a fifth round of negotiations seeking to broker an end to the six-year conflict.