WARRING Syrian factions involved in UN-backed peace talks are still too far apart to set a date for further negotiations, the UN’s envoy to the country has warned.

Following a closed security council meeting on Wednesday, Staffan de Mistura said he was still hoping to hold the next round of talks “within July, but not at any cost and not without guarantees.”

He said that he was “aiming at August as the period where we should be seeing something concrete. So that in September we take stock.”

Mr Mistura said all sides needed to be well prepared for talks and that there was much “discrete diplomacy going on behind the scenes.”

The indirect talks in Geneva broke down after factions under the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC) umbrella resumed their offensives in alliance with the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed the HNC for stalling the negotiations through a series of “ultimatums.

He said: “They do not want to implement UN security council resolutions or Syria Support Group agreements, but only demand the resignation of [Syrian President] Bashar Assad, which is not envisioned by any resolutions,” he said.

Mr Lavrov reiterated his persistent calls on the US and EU to press HNC factions to separate themselves from Nusra.

Mr Lavrov also called for the Kurdish separatist Union and Democracy Party to be given a seat in Geneva.

Mr Mistura agreed but said: “There are difficulties in guaranteeing its representation.”

The Russian co-ordination centre in Syria said yesterday that the Army of Islam, one of the two major HNC factions, had breached the ceasefire four times on Wednesday around Damascus.

Mr Mistura said that the ceasefire was “failing but has not totally failed” and that there was hope if pressure was placed on the backers of armed factions.

He said that a deal similar that reached between the US and Russia in late February could save civilian lives.