De Mistura’s office described his meeting with Moallem as useful and said he was “looking forward to the active participation of all relevant parties” in the talks. The Syrian government has announced its willingness to attend peace talks with the opposition in Geneva ( Switzerland ) later this month . Foreign Minister Walid al - Moallem made the announcement , but added the caveat that the government wanted to keep lists of those who would be attending to ensure that ‘ terrorist ’ groups were not represented . The government regards all those seeking to overthrow President Bashar al - Assad as terrorists . It has also said that the focus of the government should be on countering terrorism , while the opposition is pressing for Syria to step down as part of any peace deal . The opposition is also calling on the government to make some positive gestures ahead of the talks , including lifting sieges in rebel - held areas . Previous talks in 2014 failed to have a positive effect , but there is more pressure for a resolution from the forthcoming meeting of the 2015 ’s UN Security Council resolution , which endorses a transitional plan for Syria .
The Syrian government has announced its willingness to attend peace talks with the opposition in Geneva ( Switzerland ) later this month . Foreign Minister Walid al - Moallem made the announcement , but added the caveat that the government wanted to keep lists of those who would be attending to ensure that ‘ terrorist ’ groups were not represented . The government regards all those seeking to overthrow President Bashar al - Assad as terrorists . It has also said that the focus of the government should be on countering terrorism , while the opposition is pressing for Syria to step down as part of any peace deal . The opposition is also calling on the government to make some positive gestures ahead of the talks , including lifting sieges in rebel - held areas . Previous talks in 2014 failed to have a positive effect , but there is more pressure for a resolution from the forthcoming meeting of the 2015 ’s UN Security Council resolution , which endorses a transitional plan for Syria .