Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) listens to his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad during a meeting in Kremlin in Moscow on December 19, 2006. On December 25, 2014 Russian authorities announced possible negotiations between the Syrian opposition and Assad's government, but opposition groups have not indicated whether they will participate. UPI Photo/Anatoli Zhdanov | License Photo

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to send representatives to Russia next month to participate in talks with opposition forces in Syria's complex and bloody civil war.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich announced the proposal Thursday, saying it would be "informal" and not require official invitations, according to state-run Russian news agency ITAR-Tass.


Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov had met with Salih Muslim Muhammad, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party of Syria, the same day to discuss the possibility of a meeting. The Russian Foreign Ministry indicated the talks would be built on "the base of the Geneva communique of June 30, 2012," referring to United Nations-backed negotiations between the Assad government and Syrian rebel groups that broke down in February.

Syria's state news agency, SANA, reported Saturday the Assad government's willingness to enter new talks.

Syrian opposition groups have not said whether they will send representatives to the negotiations, which are expected to take place after Jan. 20.

Syria's civil war has raged since 2011, when violent government crackdowns against Arab Spring protests spiraled into armed conflict between the Assad regime and several rebel factions and jihad groups, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front and the notorious Islamic State, which has emerged as the most powerful force among the opposition.

Since the war's beginning Russia and Iran have supported the Assad regime, while Western nations backed secular rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army. Islamic State militants blitzed into Iraq in early 2014, and since August a U.S.-backed international coalition has engaged in a bombing campaign against the extremist group in both Syria and Iraq.