The Syrian peace conference is in its final round of talks before wrapping up on Friday. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said the Assad regime and members of the Syrian opposition have made little progress, but called for patience.

Lakhdar Brahimi: “I do not expect that we will achieve anything substantive. I am very happy that we are still talking, that the ice is breaking slowly — but it is breaking — and that we will separate on Friday and discuss what we will do when we resume. I did not expect — I am not disappointed, because I did not expect any result this first time. This is exactly what I thought we would do, just talk to one another and also agree that we will continue talking to one another.”

Friday’s talks will focus on setting up a follow-up for the next round of negotiations. The two sides remain deadlocked over the role of Bashar al-Assad in a future transitional government.