MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian peace negotiations between the main opposition and Syrian government delegates were only expected to involve “proxy” talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Saturday.

He also said that there were no preconditions for the Syrian talks and that Moscow welcomed the decision by Syrian opposition coordinator, Riad Hijab, to take part in talks in Geneva.

“(United Nations Syria envoy Staffan) de Mistura “has always planned to carry out proxy talks, that is to talk in turns with each delegations: the government and the opposition figures,” Gatilov, who is heading to Geneva for talks, said in an interview with Interfax.