The Syrian government has agreed to a conference on the country’s future proposed by Russia and the United States, Russia’s foreign ministry said today.

The Syrian government had ‘agreed in principle’ to participate in the conference in Geneva which is expected within two weeks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in televised remarks.

Mr Lukashevich, however, said that it was impossible to set the date for the conference at this point because there is ‘no clarity about who will speak on behalf of the opposition and what powers they will have’.

Russia and the US joined efforts earlier this month to convene an international conference to bring representatives of Assad’s regime and the opposition to the negotiating table. The aim of the talks would be to establish the outlines of a transitional government as a way out of the crisis.

The Moscow announcement came after days of talks there between Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad and Russian officials.