UN envoy Staffan de Mistura will send invitations to Syria peace talks in the coming days.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura will send invitations to Syria peace talks in the coming days, the UN spokesman said Wednesday – seemingly allowing the opposition to bypass a deadline to agree on its negotiators.

De Mistura had warned the opposition that he would pick their delegates to the talks opening in Geneva on February 20 if they could not decide by Wednesday on who would represent them. The envoy however appears to have backtracked on the ultimatum.

“The invitations will go out in the coming days,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. “We all know that these processes are rather complex, demand a lot of discussion and consultation with various people.”

“So Mr De Mistura and his team are continuing on that track.” De Mistura’s threat to appoint the negotiating team drew a sharp response from the opposition, which said it was not the UN envoy’s “business” to pick delegates to peace talks.