The Syrian opposition announced on Tuesday that it will attend a new round of United Nations-sponsored peace talks hosted in Vienna. The Syrian Negotiations Commissions press office announced that it will take part in the Geneva talks that are this time being held in Vienna. The date of the talks has not been set yet. The eighth round of the Geneva talks was held in December 2017, but they failed to achieve progress in resolving the nearly seven-year war. Russia had meanwhile announced that it will host in the city of Sochi a Syria peace congress on January 29 and 30. The opposition factions had refused to take part in the conference, saying that it is aimed at undermining the UN peace efforts. The regime will attend.