Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said his country’s delegation had rejected a US request for direct talks unless Secretary of State John Kerry apologized for his remarks on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said his country’s delegation had rejected a US request for direct talks unless Secretary of State John Kerry apologized for his remarks on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

"The Americans asked us to negotiate directly with them in Montreux," Moallem told Syrian state media on the plane home from 10 days of peace talks in the Swiss cities of Montreux and Geneva.

"But we refused to do so before Secretary of State John Kerry apologised for what he said at the conference," the Syrian FM added, in remarks carried by state news agency SANA.

Syria's government and opposition began the so-called Geneva II talks on January 22, with the participation of dozens of nations, including Russia, and the United States.

In his opening remarks at the conference, Kerry said Syria's President Bashar al-Assad "will not be part" of any transitional government.

"There is no way, not possible in the imagination, that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain legitimacy to govern," Kerry said.

The top Syrian diplomat also dismissed the "coalition of the so-called 'opposition'" in his comments Saturday.

"If they do not abandon their illusions, they will get a rude shock because we are a country of institutions and a constitution and we have a president of the republic," SANA quoted Moallem as saying.

He said it was "a stain" on the opposition that they refused to sign a declaration condemning "terrorism" in the country.

A second round of talks has been tabled for February 10, with the opposition already committed to attending.