(Lakhdar Brahimi at the press today in Geneva / Jean-Marc Ferré )

"I mean, frankly now, I doubt whether the conference will take place in July," stated Brahimi to the press when asked when the conference was likely to occur. "The opposition, you know, I think their next meeting is on the 4th and 5th of July, so I don't think they will be ready."  

The Geneva conference is a step toward finding a political solution to the civil war in Syria, where violence has ensued between the Syrian army and opposition groups, who want to overthrow the al-Assad regime. According to the UN News Centre, more than 93,000 have been killed since March 2011, while 1.5 million people have been displaced. 

"As Mr. Brahimi said, we have to wait until the Syrian opposition meets on the 4th and 5th of July. They have to decide upon who is going to represent them," added Eduardo del Buey, deputy spokesperson for the Secretary-General during a briefing held at the UN headquarters in New York. "The Syrian Foreign Minister has already said that Syria will attend the conference; we have to find out who is going to attend from the opposition side. And on that, we are working hard to get the meeting going."

Brahimi met today with Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov and U.S. Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman. As reported by Reuters, he urged the U.S. and Russia to take the reigns in containing the conflict and bringing both sides from Syria together.

"I very, very much hope that the government in the region and the big powers- in particular the United States and Russia- that they will act to contain this situation that is getting out of hand, not only in Syria but also in the region." 

He has also commented that not much has improved since the trilateral meeting last took place on June 5th. 

"It is still relentless destruction, killing, more suffering, more injustice, and more uncertainty for the future of the Syrian people," noted Brahimi.

Concerns regarding the spillover-effect of the Syrian conflict have also arose, as Brahimi commented on the violence in Sidon, Lebanon, which killed at least 16 Lebanese soldiers.