- Syrian Opposition Announces Boycotting Sochi Talks

- Syria's opposition said early Saturday that it will boycott a peace congress in Russia next week, according to its official Twitter account.

"The HNC announces the boycott of the Sochi conference that Russia had invited it to," the tweet in Arabic on the High Negotiations Committee (HNC)'s account said after UN-brokered talks in Vienna.

Like in eight previous rounds in Geneva, the SNC and Syrian government representatives held separate talks with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura but the two delegations did not meet face to face.

Russia, which has helped turn the Syrian war in favour of its ally President Bashar al-Assad, has invited 1,600 people to the Black Sea resort of Sochi to begin hammering out a new constitution for post-war Syria.