Diplomats fail once again to ease suffering in Syria As the war in Syria reaches new levels of brutality, according to the UN, diplomats from the US, Russia, the UN, and the Arab League continue to fail in their attempts to ease the suffering in the country. A proposed heavyweight conference on ending the fighting in Syria appears as far away as ever. The international envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, put the blame firmly with the Syrians. "There are talks between the Syrians, in cooperation with Arab nations and other countries, in order to form a delegation from the Syrian government that is acceptable to the opposition," he said in Geneva. It is also unclear if Syrian government supporters, Iran, or opposition backers, Saudi Arabia, will be invited Brahimi will chair a fresh round of preparatory talks on June 25. More about: Diplomatic mission, Syria, United Nations