ASTANA, October 31. /TASS/. Syrian government welcomes the convocation of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress [previously referred to as the Congress of the Peoples of Syria] in Sochi on November 18 and it will take part in the gathering of various political forces, the head of the Syrian delegation to the current round of Astana talks, Bashar Jaafari, who is also Syria's ambassador to the UN said on Tuesday.

He said the Syrian government was open for all the initiatives that could help put and end to bloodshed and stop the unfair war against the Syrian people. Damascus decided that the right moment had come for holding a conference of this kind and it was ready to take part.

Jaafari also said Syria could trust Russia as a friendly state that had always defended Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.