According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian, US, and UN officials will meet next week to plan a peace conference between the warring sides in Syria. The meeting is scheduled to take place on June 5 in Geneva between UN Undersecretary for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, and US Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman. The Syrian National Council (SNC), the main West-backed opposition in Syria, has announced that it will not take part in the peace conference. An SNC spokesperson said “the SNC will not take part in any international summit while Iranian gunmen and the Lebanese group Hezbollah are still involved in Syria”. At a meeting of Syrian opposition forces on Thursday, the leader of the Syrian National Youth Party criticized the conditions imposed by the SNC and said that the SNC should not represent the Syrians in peace talks. Meanwhile, according to Syrian news agency, al-Ain, President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday confirmed that the Russian long-range surface-to-air missile system S 300 is available in Syria and said that Damacus is prepared to respond to any attack from Israel.