BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria said Saturday that it was willing to participate in “preliminary consultations” in Russia aimed at restarting peace talks next year to end its civil war.
But members of the Western-backed Syrian opposition dismissed the Russian plan on Saturday, saying there was “no initiative.”
Syrian state television quoted an official at the Foreign Ministry as saying that “Syria is ready to participate in preliminary consultations in Moscow in order to meet the aspirations of Syrians to find a way out of crisis.”
Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said this month that he wanted Syrian opposition groups to agree among themselves on a common approach before setting up direct talks with the Syrian government, which is backed by Moscow.