Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem is to visit Russia before the international conference aimed at solving the deadly crisis in Syria.

Damascus's ambassador to Moscow Riyad Haddad reported that Moallem will be in Moscow before the Geneva 2 peace talks on the crisis due to begin in Switzerland later this month.

"He will be in Moscow prior to Geneva 2," Haddad told the Interfax news agency, without specifying the date.

A diplomatic source in Damascus said the visit could take place on Thursday.

The announcement came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Paris with US Secretary of State John Kerry about the Swiss conference.

The Swiss meetings, due to begin January 22 in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux and continue two days later in Geneva, are aimed at engaging regime and opposition members in their first direct talks.