Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Thursday that talks with Catalonia's pro-independence regional government on the region's separatist crisis would begin later this month. "We have decided to hold the first meeting of this bilateral commission" between Spain's central government and the regional government of Catalonia "within this month, that is to say in February," he said after meeting with Catalan president Quim Torra. "We must resume our dialogue...the results of the past decade are dismal. No one has won. Everyone has lost," he added. Sanchez agreed to open talks between his central government and Catalonia's regional government as part of a deal to win the support of lawmakers from Catalan separatist party ERC in the Spanish parliament that he needed to form a government last month following a November 2019 general election. Catalonia has been a dominant theme in Spanish politics since the region unilaterally declared independence in October 2017 following a referendum deemed illegal by courts, prompting Spain's biggest political crisis in decades. This was the first formal meeting with Torra since nine Catalan separatist were sentenced to lengthy jail terms for their role in the failed 2017 independence bid, triggering mass protests in Barcelona and other Catalan cities which sometimes turned violent. Spain's central government and Catalonia's regional government have sharply opposing views over the independence issue. Separatists want to discuss the possibility of holding a legally binding referendum in Catalonia, as well as an amnesty for their leaders who were sentenced in October to lengthy jail terms over their failed 2017 independence bid. But the Socialists have already said that such a referendum would be impossible. The start of the talks comes as Catalonia's separatist movement is wracked by divisions. Torra last month called a snap election this year citing tensions within his coalition separatist government made up of the ERC and his more hardline Together for Catalonia (JxC) party. He did not say when the regional vote would be held but pledged to announce a date after the budget is passed, in the next few months. Polls how Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are almost evenly divided over the issue of independence for the wealthy northeastern region, which has its own distinct language and culture. bur-mg/ds/cdw