Upcoming UN-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva have been pushed back until late February, Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. <br /><br /> The Russian foreign minister’s announcement came as he met representatives from some opposition groups in Moscow. <br /><br /> Lavrov did not explain the reasons for the latest delay. <br /><br /> The negotiations in Geneva were scheduled for February 8, after this week’s peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana. <br /><br /> Meanwhile, on the ground in Syria, hardline opposition group Ahrar al-Sham said that six other rebel factions had joined its ranks on Thursday to form an alliance against the jihadists, formerly known as the al Nursra Front. <br /><br /> Nursra is said to have attacked Free Syrian Army units west of Aleppo this week. It accuses them of conspiring against it in the Astana talks. <br /><br /> The negotiations in Kazakhstan ended without a major breakthrough, though Russia, Iran and Turkey did agree to up-hold a fragile ceasefire in Syria.<br />
