MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. A delegation of internal Syrian opposition will discuss at the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday preparations for the Geneva-3 conference on Syria, a source close to consultations told TASS on Monday.
The secretary general of the National Democratic Action Committee, Mahmoud Marai, as well as participants from other opposition groups will meet with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov "to discuss preparations for the Geneva-3 conference and the current developments in Syria," the source said.
The UN has hosted two major international conferences on Syria since 2011. The Geneva Communique was adopted on June 30, 2012 at a conference of an "action group" on Syria in Geneva. That conference is now commonly referred to as "Geneva-1".
Its logical continuation, an international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States, kicked off on January 22, 2014 in Montreux, Switzerland. The conference sought to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis. No particular progress was reported after two rounds were held in January and February 2014. The parties to the Syrian conflict agreed to continue their discussions.
Fighting between Syrian government troops and rebels has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced millions since its start in 2011, according to UN statistics.