A United Nations plan for local ceasefires in Syria is deadlocked, with Damascus feeling it does not need to make concessions to disparate armed groups, Western diplomats familiar with the talks said. Since October, U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura has been working on a plan to broker “local freezes”, starting in the northern city … Continue reading U.N. plan for local ceasefires in Syria ‘frozen’: diplomats