The Syrian opposition and regime have been invited to attend the next round of United Nations-sponsored peace talks, announced UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura on Wednesday.
The talks are set to be held in Vienna next week.
De Mistura said that the January 25-26 meeting would focus on constitutional issues in Syria.
“The Special Envoy looks forward to the participation of both delegations in this special meeting,” he said.
“He expects that delegations will be coming to Vienna prepared for substantive engagement with him and his team with a specific focus on the constitutional basket of the agenda towards the full implementation of Security Council resolution 2254...,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the conflict in Syria and the humanitarian situation in a phone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“The ministers discussed preparations for the Syrian National Dialogue Congress as a major milestone on the way to reaching a settlement in the Syrian political question,” the ministry said.
Russia is hoping to host the Congress in the city of Sochi.
The Syrian opposition has rejected the move, saying that the congress undermines UN peace efforts and the Geneva talks.
