DAMASCUS, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The visiting UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Sunday said he hopes that a common ground could be reached to help push forward the Syrian political process.

Pedersen made the remarks after meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in the capital Damascus, saying he had an "expansive and comprehensive" discussion with the Syrian minister.

The envoy said the talks with al-Moallem touched upon issues related to UN Security Council resolution 2254, which was endorsed in 2015 and laid forward a roadmap to resolve the Syrian war politically. It called for a ceasefire and political settlement in Syria.

"The Syrian people have been living through an extremely difficult period... and of course there is only one way out of this and that is to start to implement the Security Council resolution and to start focusing on the political process," he told reporters.

Pedersen, meanwhile, hoped that the meetings he is having during his visit and the meetings he will have with the opposition could be the "beginning of something new."

"Hopefully we can see if it's possible to find more common ground on how to move this (political) process forward," he said.

During their meeting, al-Moallem and Pedersen also discussed the economic situation in Syria and the Western sanctions that increase the hardships in Syria particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state news agency SANA.

Regarding the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which comprises delegations from the government and opposition to discuss the Syrian constitution, both sides stressed the need for the committee to carry out its work without foreign intervention. Enditem