Syrian Army Offensive Prompted Opposition to Drop Preconditions – Lawmaker

Recent territorial gains by the Syrian Army have prompted Syrian opposition to rush to Geneva for talks without asking for more concessions, a senior Russian lawmaker said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have been on the offensive in the past days in a bid to squeeze Islamic State (Daesh) militants out of the northeastern city of Deir Ez-Zor.

"The Syrian opposition has realized that while it is laying down conditions the army of Assad is pressing forward, so eventually they went to talks with no strings attached," Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament, said on Twitter.

The opposition delegation flew into the Swiss city on Saturday for UN-brokered peace talks with government representatives. Ahrar ash-Sham, a smaller group of opposition forces, has bowed out of negotiations.