"We said before that if the situation remained the same in Afrin we could not attend Sochi," regional official Fawza al-Yussef said.

Turkey's military offensive in Afrin "contradicts the principle of political dialogue", Yussef said.

Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" on January 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air strikes.

The Sochi talks come after multiple failed rounds of UN-brokered talks to end Syria's seven-year war.

On Saturday, Syria's main opposition group, the Syrian Negotiation Commission, also said it would not attend the negotiations.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war began in 2011.

Reporter’s code: 50101