A new round of talks over Syria crisis is to take place on Friday between Moscow and Washington, along with the International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

A new round of talks over Syria crisis is to take place on Friday between Moscow and Washington, along with the International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Russia's Middle East negotiator, Mikhail Bogdanov, said on Wednesday that the envoys of US and Russia would meet Brahimi in Geneva on Friday for fresh talks.

Often referred to as "The Three Bs," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov, US Undersecretary of State William Burns and UN-Arab League envoy Brahimi have taken an increasingly central role in the search for an end to the ongoing crisis in Syria.

The last round of consultations in December resulted in leaked reports of a joint Russia-US initiative on moving toward a transition government that the armed opposition could embrace.

BRAHIMI SLAMS ASSAD INITIATIVE
On the other hand, Brahimi criticized the latest speech for President Bashar al-Assad, saying it was no better than previous initiatives.

"I'm afraid what has come out is very much a repeat of previous initiatives that obviously did not work... it's not really different and perhaps is even more sectarian and one-sided," the Algerian diplomat told the BBC.

"The time of reforms granted magnanimously from above has passed. People want to have a say in how they are governed and they want to take hold of their own future."

President Assad last Sunday drew the map of a proposed solution to the crisis in Syria that included a national reconciliation conference, a new government and constitution. However, he demanded regional and Western countries stop funding and arming terrorists first.

However, West, along with the armed opposition rejected Assad plan.