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Don't expect breakthrough in Syria talks, says Germany's Steinmeier


    ATHENS (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier played down expectations of a breakthrough at an international meeting on the Syrian conflict in Vienna on Friday.

    "Tomorrow still won't be the breakthrough," Steinmeier said on Thursday during a visit to Athens.

    Friday's multilateral meeting in the Austrian capital is the first to include Iran in efforts to find a political solution to end the four-year-long Syrian civil war, in which at least 200,000 people have died and millions have been displaced.

    Steinmeier said the talks would be a success if states agreed on principles, such as keeping Syria a secular state and initiating a process to form a transitional government.

    "These are issues, which (..) could be on the table tomorrow, and that is important enough," he said.

    (Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Caroline Copley; Editing by Richard Balmforth)