MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday Syrian opposition representatives would risk losing influence in peace efforts if they do not attend planned talks in Moscow.

The refusal of prominent opposition figures to attend the Jan. 26-29 meeting, intended to bring together representatives of President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian opposition groups, has dealt a blow to Russian efforts to seek solution to the Syrian conflict.

“Those who decide not to take part in this event, they will lose in terms of their positions in the peace talks process as a whole,” Lavrov told a news conference.

Moscow, Assad’s key ally, says it still hopes the Western-backed National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces will be represented at the talks.

In rejecting the invitation to Moscow, the Western-backed opposition Syrian National Coalition said on Jan.7 it would sit down to talks only if they would lead to Assad giving up power.

Moscow says the emphasis should instead be on fighting Islamist militants and that Assad’s exit should not be a precondition to peace talks that stalled early last year.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Geneva on Wednesday he hoped “that the Russian efforts could be helpful”.

Moscow’s renewed diplomatic push on Syria came as its ties with the West soured over another conflict – in Ukraine.

Assad has said hoped-for talks in Moscow with opponents must focus on the fight against “terrorism,” while adding that he is unsure the meeting will reap any results.

“We are going to Russia not to start a dialogue, but to meet with these (opposition) figures and to discuss with them the framework of a dialogue,” said Assad in an interview with Czech newspaper Literani Noviny published Thursday.

Such talks, he said, should focus on “Syrian unity, the fight against terrorist organizations, support for the army and the war on terror.”

Assad said he backed the Russian initiative, but that “it is too early to judge whether it will succeed or fail”.

“If (the opposition) have ideas that serve the interests of the Syrian people, we will move forward. Otherwise, we will not deal with them seriously.”