GENEVA, October 28 (Itar-Tass) - Syrian Vice-Premier Qadri Jamil said he had met high-ranking officials of the U.S. Department of State in Geneva over the soonest convocation of the Geneva II Peace Conference.

In an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass, Jamil said this was the first meeting when the Syrian crisis started in March 2011.

“In Geneva we said we favoured the soonest convocation of the Geneva II Peace Conference,” the Syrian opposition leader said.

Among other topics of the meeting Jamil named “who will represent the opposition at the peace conference”.

“We said no party could be excluded. All groups of the opposition should take part in the conference,” he said, adding, “I believe that Americans achieve progress in this aspect. The fact that they’ve met us proves this.”

“We realised that if the Geneva Conference was successful, it would open ways to launch an internal Syrian dialogue,” Jamil said.

“The U.S. position is changing and it is becoming more realistic. They realise what threat the bloodshed in Syria can pose to Syria and the whole region,” the vice-premier said.