Russia Arab League propose brokering talks between Syrian govt opposition

Russia and the Arab League have proposed brokering direct talks between the Syrian government and opposition in a bid to end the civil.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said violence was ‘a road to nowhere’.

Lavrov said the Kremlin and the Arab League wanted to establish direct contact between the Syrian government and the opposition.

While speaking in Moscow, where he hosted league officials and several Arab foreign ministers, the minister said that sitting down at a negotiating table was the only way to end the conflict without irreparable damage to Syria, the BBC reports.

However, the proposal received a cool reception from the Syrian National Coalition (SNC).

Abdelbaset Sieda, a senior member of the opposition group, said that they ‘cannot agree to that.’

According to the report, the proposal comes as the opposition Syrian National Coalition is due to begin a two-day meeting in Egypt to discuss a framework for a possible solution.

Some 70,000 people have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, the UN says. (ANI)