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Middle East and North Africa

Geneva II Conference may take place not later than in December - source

The consultations were held behind closed doors at the Palace of Nations, the U.N. Office in Geneva, on Tuesday

GENEVA, November 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Geneva II Conference on Syria will take place not later than in December, a source close to the Russia-U.S.-U.N. consultations told Itar-Tass.

The consultations were held behind closed doors at the Palace of Nations, the U.N. Office in Geneva, on Tuesday.

Earlier, the source said diplomats of Russia, the U.N. and the U.S. have coordinated texts of invitations to participants in the Geneva II Peace Conference on Syria. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will circulate the texts of the invitations to the Syrian government, the opposition and external players.

The source described the situation at the talks as constructive. The participants in the talks will resume negotiations at 4 p.m. Moscow time. Representatives of Britain, China and France will join them. Then the talks will continue in an expanded format with the involvement of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey.

Russia’s delegation is led by the deputies foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov. The U.S. is represented by Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman. U.N./LAS Special Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi also takes part in the consultations.

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