GENEVA — High-ranking diplomats from the U.S., Russia and the United Nations will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to prepare the groundwork for a planned U.N.-brokered conference on Syria later this month.

Diplomatic officials said Tuesday that Anne Patterson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, and Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov will attend the talks at the U.S. mission.

It comes as U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura is preparing a Jan. 25 conference in Geneva that aims to bring together representatives of Syrian government and opposition leaders.

A Russian diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is seeking broad representation of the opposition, including Kurdish factions, at that conference. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.