France to take part in Vienna talks on Syria

France will participate in talks on Syrian crisis scheduled for Friday in Vienna, government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said on Wednesday.

At a briefing after a weekly cabinet meeting, Le Foll announced that Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius would attend the upcoming meeting on Syrian conflict later in the week.

On Friday last week, France missed the latest round of Vienna talks on Syria during which U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov along with foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Three days later, Paris held separate talks on Syria which according to Le Foll was "a preparation for Vienna meeting."

"France continues to hold dialogues with everyone, especially with Russia and Iran. France favors that Iran will be invited (and) all parties will be present," said the government's spokesman, who is also agriculture minister.

Later on Wednesday, Fabius would hold phone talks with Lavrov, according to Le Foll.

Diplomatic efforts to end peacefully the four-year long civil war were shrouded with doubt as the United States, European states and Arab allies set the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a pre-condition for negotiating a political transition in Syria, which Russia rejects. Endit