Zurich – Internationally brokered talks between Syria’s government and opposition groups should start this month as planned, Reuters cited Russia and the United States saying Wednesday January 20, 2016. But no sign of agreement on who should represent the opposition in the horizon.

Speaking after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Switzerland, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said neither of them had thought about seeking a postponement of the talks, which are scheduled to start in Geneva on Jan. 25.

“We have no intentions to postpone the talks from January to February. This is both the position of Russia and the United States, and we are confident that in the next days, in January, such talks must start.”

“We hope the negotiating process will begin this month,” Lavrov said. “I stress that this will be just the start, because of course it will take a lot of time, a whole range of arduous tasks are to be resolved.”

Kerry’s spokesman, John Kirby, said Kerry and Lavrov discussed “the importance of maintaining progress toward a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria.”

“There’s been no change in our desire to see this meeting happen on the 25th, and the Secretary reiterated that,” he said.