After a meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo with Nabil Elaraby, Brahimi said negotiations could begin on United Nations headquarters.

Brahimi told if dialogue starts at the U.N. headquarters between the opposition and a delegation from the Syrian government, it will be the beginning for getting Syria out of this dark tunnel.

Exiled Syrian opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib has offered to hold peace talks with the Syrian government, saying he is willing to sit down with the deputy of President Bashar al-Assad.

It is uncertain whether he had received any indication of Syria’s willingness to enter into talks with Alkhatib and the SNC.

An estimated 60,000 people have been killed since the uprising began against Assad’s rule in March 2011.

Khatib is expected to visit Assad’s supporters in Moscow in the coming weeks, as is Assad’s foreign minister Walid Muallem, according to Syrian state television.

Meanwhile, clashes took place between several rebel groups and regime forces near the Neyrab military airport on Sunday with rebels taking over a military checkpoint near the airport.

At the same time, the U.N. refugee agency says it has not yet received the funds recently pledged for Syrian refugees and is struggling to help the rising numbers fleeing the country’s conflict. Andrew Harper, the agency’s representative to Jordan, told AP on Sunday that the $1.5 billion pledged last month at an international donor conference in Kuwait “has not come through.”

With no end in sight to the conflict, tens of thousands of Syrians continue to flee their homes, many seeking shelter outside Lebanon. More than 720,000 Syrians are now either registered as refugees or awaiting registration in neighbouring countries, including almost 240,000 in Lebanon.

In Syria the massacre has to stop. According to the recent UN assessment, more than 60,000 people have already died. This is appalling and unacceptable. I reiterated the European Union’s position that President Assad should step aside as efforts are being made to facilitate an inclusive and democratic transition. The joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Lakhdar Brahimi, has our full support in finding a political solution to the crisis.

The European Union has also welcomed the creation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and accepts them as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. It is important that they now engage with Joint Special Representative Brahimi and his team.

Secretary General Elaraby and I also discussed the need for concerted and coordinated actions by all key actors to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Now is the time to look forward and to take bold steps towards peace in Middle East. It is key to re-launch direct and substantial negotiations, without preconditions, among the parties in the Palestinian- Israeli conflict. The aim should be a lasting solution ending all claims.