The next round of U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the Syrian civil war will begin on Nov. 28, the newly appointed head of the main opposition negotiating team said early Saturday morning.

Nasr Hariri told a news conference in Riyadh that the opposition was going to Geneva to hold direct talks and was ready to discuss "everything on the negotiating table."

Hariri added that Russia's proposal to hold a congress of the Assad regime and the opposition did not serve the political process.

He further called on the international community, including Russia, "to focus all our work on serving the political process according to the U.N.-sponsored Geneva track in order to save time and achieve the desired goal."

The Geneva talks began in 2014 and six previous rounds of U.N.-backed negotiations have failed to yield concrete results, while hopes for a major breakthrough remain bleak.

Since March 2011 when civil war erupted in Syria, more than 300,000 people have been killed, according to the U.N. The Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll at more than 470,000. Despite the heavy toll of the Syrian civil war on both sides, the Assad regime has also gained momentum. Over the last year, Assad has strengthened his position on the ground, while opposition forces are reeling from a major setback in the capital city of Damascus.