The Syrian opposition has rejected President Bashar al-Assad's claim that a new Syrian government that includes opposition figures will be formed in weeks, saying no administration will be legitimate while he remains in office.
Assad, bolstered by military victory in the desert city of Palmyra, was quoted by Russia's RIA news agency on Wednesday as saying a new draft constitution could be ready in weeks and a government that included opposition, independents and loyalists could be agreed.
While the distribution of portfolios and other technical issues would need to be discussed at Geneva peace talks, which resume next month, "these are not difficult questions", Assad said.
Opposition negotiators immediately dismissed Assad's remarks on Wednesday, saying that a political settlement could be reached only by establishing a transitional body with full powers, not another government under Assad.
"What Bashar al-Assad is talking about has no relation to the political process," said George Sabra of the High Negotiations Committee.
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Syria's crisis erupted five years ago with protests against Assad which were put down with force. It descended into a civil war which has killed more than 250,000, drawn in global military powers and helped Islamic State establish its self-declared caliphate. Nearly five million refugees have been driven abroad.
At a conference in Geneva, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries to resettle nearly half a million Syrian refugees in the next three years.
Assad told RIA the war had cost more than $US200 billion ($A261.75 billion) in economic losses and damage to infrastructure.
Despite Assad's upbeat assessment of the chances for a political solution, his comments reflected deep differences with the opposition. It says that for the last four years international agreements on Syria's future have centred on the principle of setting up a transitional governing body.
Assad's opponents have understood that such a body would have full powers, and that he would not play a further role.
But the president said the very idea of a transitional body was "illogical and unconstitutional".
"That's why the solution is forming a national unity government which prepares for a new constitution," he said, adding that its formation would be agreed in Geneva.
Russia's six-month-old intervention in Syria helped to swing military momentum in Assad's favour, reversing last summer's gains by insurgents including Western-backed rebels and helping government forces to drive Islamic State out of Palmyra on Sunday.
