Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are discussing sending special forces to Syria as part of US-led efforts to fight Islamic State (Isis), said Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Tuesday.
"There are discussions, countries that are currently part of the coalition are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain about sending in some special forces into Syria and those discussions are ongoing. It's not excluded," Adel al-Jubeir told reporters.
He said the discussions were aimed at clarifying the needs and the objectives of such an operation, but that the picture should become clearer in the next few weeks.
Jubeir was speaking in Paris after outlining a separate initiative by Riyadh to set up a coalition of Islamic countries for counter-terrorism operations, especially in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.
The United States has already sent Special Forces to Syria to help rebels coordinate efforts against Islamic State and has discussed the issue with other members of the coalition, including France.
While Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are part of the same coalition, they have carried out limited airstrikes in Syria. Most of their effort has gone towards arming opposition groups and backing efforts to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
On the other hand, US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Moscow to discuss with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov preparing the ground for a third round of talks of world powers on Syria, penciled in for Friday in New York.
Russia and the United States see enough common ground on Syria for the world powers to meet on the troubled country's peace process in New York on Friday, but views on the future of President Bashar-al Assad still diverge.
However, speaking afterwards, John Kerry said the talks between the US and Russia would definitely take place after the two countries agreed to try to accelerate the peace process and a potential political transition.
"We will meet this Friday, 18 December, in New York with the International Syrian Support Group and then we will pass a UN resolution regarding the next steps with respect to negotiations and hopefully a ceasefire," said Kerry.
He said the two sides had found some common ground, while agreeing to put their differences to one side for now.
Lavrov confirmed Russia now backed the meeting.
"Despite our countries' differences, we have demonstrated that when the United States and Russia pull together in the same direction, progress can be made," Lavrov told a news conference.
He called the talks with Kerry "substantive," saying the two countries were now moving in the same direction on Syria.
Russia, one of Assad's staunchest allies, has launched a campaign of air strikes it says are aimed at Islamic State militants but which also support Assad's forces.
