Syria’s government rejected direct talks with the main opposition group even as the United Nations said Russia’s military pullout from the country has helped to breathe “new momentum” into the peace process in Geneva.

“We consider them a terrorist delegation that belongs to a terrorist faction,” Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, said of the opposition High Negotiations Committee on Wednesday after meeting Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special envoy for Syria. The Saudi-backed HNC said on Tuesday that it would be prepared to sit down face-to-face with the government side.

QuickTake Syria's Civil War

The withdrawal of most of Russia’s forces from Syria will be completed in two to three days, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported Thursday, citing Russian air forces chief General Viktor Bondarev.

President Vladimir Putin, whose military intervention last year in support of Bashar al-Assad turned the tide in Syria’s five-year civil war, ordered the partial Russian pullout on Monday. The surprise move puts pressure on the Syrian government and opposition groups to reach a peace deal. Russia has urged Assad’s administration to be “constructive” in the Geneva negotiations to end a conflict that’s killed a quarter-million people, sparked a refugee exodus to Europe and allowed Islamic State a foothold.

The Russian decision, coupled with the refugee crisis and the fight against Islamic State, is moving the search for a political settlement forward, de Mistura told reporters on Tuesday after meeting the opposition delegation. “All this has produced a new momentum,” he said.

Kerry Meeting

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday he’ll travel to Moscow next week for meetings about Russia’s military withdrawal from Syria and the Geneva talks.

Putin may meet with Kerry to discuss coordinating Russian and U.S. actions to advance the Syrian peace process, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. Russia is content with the U.S.’s “willingness to coordinate” and “that’s now the focus of the main effort in Moscow and Washington,” he said.

Russia won’t ease up in its fight against terrorism and will leave air defenses in place, including the S-400 anti-aircraft system, to protect its remaining forces in Syria, Sergei Ivanov, head of the presidential administration, told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday. Russian sorties have been reduced by two-thirds, Peskov said Tuesday. 

‘Positive Step’

In Geneva, Salem al-Muslet, the HNC’s chief spokesman, told reporters the Russian withdrawal was “a positive step which will help to move forward the negotiations.” He also said that “actions on the ground” are needed to support Putin’s announcement.

Both sides have presented proposals on a political transition to the UN envoy, whose deputy, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, said Wednesday that there are “major differences” between the government and opposition positions.

Syria’s regime has indicated that it will only accept a limited role for the opposition in government, and that discussing Assad’s position is a “red line.” A three-point plan presented to de Mistura on Monday by the Assad delegation included the fight against terrorism and the formation of a national unity government that would include some opposition acceptable to Damascus, Al Arabiya reported, citing an unidentified person close to the talks.

The opposition insists that the president must step down at the start of a transitional period. Assad’s proposal for a national unity government means the “preservation of current rule,” al-Muslet said.