Lavrov: Russian Federation in contact with Egypt on forming Syrian opposition delegation

Lavrov said the U.S.is not sharing locations of the FSA, which is a “big mistake”.

Assad is ready to hold parliamentary elections “on the basis of all political forces that want Syria’s prosperity”, Yushchenko told TASS. But Iran clearly has a stake in Syria’s future, as Assad’s government has helped the Iranians exert dominance over nearby Lebanon and threaten Israel through its proxy, Hezbollah.

Roughly a month after it first began deploying military personnel and equipment into Syria, the bills for Russia’s intervention on behalf of the Assad regime are starting to stream in.

Opponents of Obama’s Syria policy have always been concerned that the president’s refusal to use force against Assad, even though US forces are engaged in an air campaign against the Islamic State in his country, strengthens both Iran’s and the Syrian dictator’s position.

The civil war in Syria has already resulted in more than 250,000 deaths and evacuation of 11 million people from their homes in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, according to the United Nations data.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and several top European and Arab diplomats will be attending, a familiar cast that up to now hasn’t included any Iranian representatives.

Assad reportedly says he is willing to take part in the elections “if the people are not against it”.

Russian Federation says it has already met with rebel commanders in Moscow, a claim denied by the opposition and their political allies. Last week, rebels in Aleppo told worldwide Business Times in a series of interviews that Russian Federation was deliberately targeting them, especially in the countryside, and the Islamic State group was gaining ground as a result.

Syria’s last election was held in June 2014, with Assad gaining over 88 percent of the total votes.

Other experts say there’s no way to push for a political transition that removes Assad from power in the long-term without including Russian Federation and Iran at the table.

Visiting Russian communist party MP Aleksandr Yushenko said the Syrian president agreed to hold preliminary elections on condition that the move has the backing of the people.

The peace process in the war-torn country must be “inclusive” and all opposition groups and “significant” foreign countries must be included, Lavrov said, adding that anything else was “unsuitable”.

Russian warplanes have been mounting air strikes against insurgents in Syria since September 30.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the comments after meeting his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, and a day after Saudi Arabia and the United States called for more worldwide efforts to restore stability in Syria without Assad. Reports said that a proposal was put forward by Lavrov on Friday to freeze fighting between the pro-regime Syrian army and the FSA and hold early elections to determine a transitional government.