Syria's Western-backed opposition refused to take part in peace talks in Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) was "blocking and refusing to participate" in the talks aimed at paving the way for a full peace conference.

The ministry said on Thursday that rebels had "responded positively" to proposed talks.

But coalition member Kamal Labwani said the opposition refused to go to Moscow because "Russia is not a fair mediator and is part of the conflict."

The SNC accuses Russia of backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom the opposition wants deposed before any talks.

"Russia can become a fair mediator when it orders Assad to leave Syria," Mr Labwani said.

"When (Russia) wants to support the criminal, it will lose."

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hit back at the group, saying joint efforts with the US for peace talks in Geneva were failing "primarily because representatives of the opposition aren't ready to take part without preconditions."

He said: "This intransigence and these demands are being asserted by the national coalition, which claims to be the only representative of the Syrian people but which doesn't represent even a majority of the opposition groups that are opposing Assad's regime."

The UN said this week that more than nine million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance. It said in July that 100,000 people have died in the conflict. Opposition activists say it's now closer to 120,000.