MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Ministry welcomes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ decision on UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura’s participation in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, the ministry’s press service said on Saturday.

"Moscow takes into consideration S. [Staffan] de Mistura’s important statement after the Vienna round and hails the decision of UN Secretary General A. [Antonio] Guterres to send his Special Envoy for Syria to Sochi in order to attend the Syrian National Dialogue Congress," the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, de Mistura expressed the hope that the Sochi Congress would allow to revitalize the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.

The Syrian National Dialogue Congress is due to take place in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi on January 29-30, 2018. The peace conference is expected to bring together about 1,500 participants. Among them are delegations from the entire spectrum of Syria’s political forces. The congress is expected to set up a commission drafting a new Syrian constitution.