U.N. Mediator Staffan de Mistura announced that the talks would be extended until the 15th of December, and would focus in particular on a new constitution and U.N.-supervised parliamentary and presidential elections. Sources familiar with the talks in Geneva told TV7, however, that while the opposition is keen on bringing about a political process that would provide it with a better reality than what it has managed to attain on the ground, the government delegation does not view the talks as constructive – accusing the opposition of provocative and irresponsible conduct that its chief negotiator stressed was counterproductive to realizing a viable solution. Opposition groups met in Riyadh last month to hammer out a unified position ahead of the Geneva talks. In a communique issued at the end of last month’s round of talks, the opposition reiterated its position that Assad can have no role in a political transition. The opposition’s statement angered Damascus, which is clearly pushing for total military victory in Syria’s civil war, leaving the opposition hollow of any true power or leverage. That is why, a Syrian official told TV7, “the government delegation may decide not to return to Geneva, unless the opposition changes its attitude and sticks-to a humbler approach to the political process.”