in new york, ambassadors heard a briefing from mr. de mistura, from his office in paris. >> what we're going to hear from staffan is what progress has been made. >> the russian ambassador knows his own government has problems with the current plan. president vladimir putin was meeting the emir of qatar in moscow. the russian leader will have made it clear he believes the list for opposition delegation drawn up in saudi arabia should have more secular figures and rechtiorepresentation from kurdh groups. there is another program even those currently on the opposition list are not currently scheduled to attend geneva, they want assurances that the same thing that happened two years ago will not be repeated. if that happens again the u.s. and its allies have a plan b. it's thought this time around the form he would begin with days of what are known as proximity talks, in the u.n. headquarters in g7 the two sides will be kept in separate rooms with mr. de mistura shuttling between them. i'm told that mr. de mistura has said that anyone who takes part in the talks will not be part of the tra