A Syrian plane with 26 Geneva-II peace talks delegates onboard has been stranded in Athens for hours. It was refused a refuel in a fuss over EU sanctions against Syria.

A Syrian plane with 26 Geneva-II peace talks delegates onboard has been stranded in Athens for hours. It was refused a refuel in a fuss over EU sanctions against Syria. Greece says the issue has been resolved, but the plane remains at the airport.

The plane en route to Switzerland was permitted to pass through the relevant airspace and had to land at Athens’ airport for refueling, Reuters reported.

Despite having proper clearances, the plane was still refused a refuel and the delay, so far, is three hours, according to SANA news agency.

However, the “the issue has been settled,” Greek foreign ministry spokesman, Konstantinos Koutras, said as cited by Reuters.

"Counter to the claims of the Greek Foreign Ministry about solving the issue of the Syrian plane ... it has not been permitted to refuel, which has prevented it from taking off," Syrian state television said.

The head of Greece's Civil Aviation Workers Union has said the plane was allowed to land in Athens but the fuel company refused to refuel it due to European Union sanctions against Syria.

At the same time, Itar-Tass agency reported, that the Foreign Ministry said that local authorities are conducting “the procedure which applies in the cases of an international embargo, and after completion, the aircraft will be fueled and will get off to its final destination.”

The Geneva-II conference is due on January 22. has been on the verge of collapse.

UN chief, Ban Ki-moon withdrew Invitation to Iran to attend the conference as a result of the Western-backed Syrian opposition’s demand.

Following the announcement Syria’s main opposition group - Syrian National Coalition – confirmed its participation in the peace talks.