Syria says it is ready to swap prisoners with rebels and to help improve humanitarian aid as the divided opposition debates whether to join international peace talks next week.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem offered the concessions at key preparatory talks in Moscow for the so-called Geneva II peace conference aimed at finding a way out of almost three years of brutal conflict.
His announcement could mark another diplomatic success for Russia after the Kremlin managed to convince Damascus last year to renounce its chemical weapons to avert US air strikes.
It came as the deeply-divided Syrian opposition - under intense pressure from Western and Arab allies - was to meet in Istanbul to decide whether to join the talks opening in Switzerland on January 22.
The long-delayed Geneva II is aimed at finding a way to install a transitional government to help chart an end to the civil war, which has cost 130,000 lives since March 2011 and sent millions of people fleeing.
Muallem said Syria would "make every effort to ensure this event is a success and meets the aspirations of the Syrian people and the direct orders of President Bashar al-Assad".
He said Damascus was prepared to exchange prisoners with rebel forces but declined to specify how many or when the operation might take place.
Muallem also offered to take a "series of humanitarian steps" to lead to the speedy delivery of aid to those in need, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
But Muallem failed to address a joint call this week by Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry for a ceasefire in parts of Syria that could begin in the devastated northern city of Aleppo.
Kerry also on Thursday appealed to the umbrella National Coalition opposition not to boycott the Geneva talks because they represented "the best opportunity for the opposition to achieve the goals of the Syrian people and the revolution".
But parts of the opposition are wary of being drawn into a process they fear could result in Assad clinging to power and had set his departure as a condition for joining the talks.
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