Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has slammed the HNC's decision to withdraw from the peace talks. He also claimed there were outside political players trying to derail the peace process, but did not elaborate. However, he did insist the talks would continue.

"The talks are not frozen. Besides the Riyadh group, other groups are also taking part in the talks - the government delegation, delegations from the groups which gathered in Moscow, in Cairo, in Astana. The answer to the question if President Assad can win this war is very simple. Nobody can win this war. All the experts and the parties themselves acknowledge this," Lavrov said.

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura also claimed the peace talks had not collapsed, and they would continue this week with many key players still involved.