Syrian Official Believes Opposition Will Reconsider Peace Talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) met with Syrian deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil (R) in Moscow in July. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The Geneva-2 international peace conference on Syria will take place on November 23-24, according to a Syrian government official.

The conference was initiated by Russia and the United States, as part of the diplomatic strategy to end Syria's ongoing military conflict.

The Geneva-2 conference will proceed despite the refusal of leading Syrian opposition groups to participate, said Deputy PM Qadri Jamil, cited by RIA Novosti.

"The Syrian National Council's refusal to participate in the Geneva-2 would not affect the time frame and format of the conference. They will likely change their decision", added Jamil.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said he could neither confirm nor dismiss Jamil's statement, adding that the precise dates would have to be chosen and announced by the UN Secretary General.

At the end of September, the UN Security Council passed a resolution for the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal. This came after weeks of political stalemate over the chemical attack, where the United States were considering air strikes on Bashar Al-Assad's regime, but Russia and China were firmly against military intervention.

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