Talks on ending Syrian war to be held January 29 in Geneva

Following a conference call on Monday with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, UN special envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura announced he was inviting all those concerned to the opening session of the conference on ending the war in Syria on January 29. The participants will include the US, Britain, France, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and representatives of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Invitations were also sent to representatives of the various Syrian rebel groups, who announced that they will not attend until the Russian and Syrian airstrikes against them are halted.
It is assumed that most of the groups will eventually send representatives due to pressure from the Persian Gulf states funding their operations.