Syria's peace talks are moving forward with greater ease but United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has warned against expecting substantive results during this round.

Brahimi said on Wednesday that the "ice is breaking", calling the presence of both the regime and the opposition at the negotiating table a step in the right direction.

"These people have not sat together for three years. They do not expect that there'll be a magic wand," Brahimi said, insisting he was "not disappointed."

Delegations from Bashar al-Assad's regime and the opposition National Coalition are set to determine on Friday when they will return to Geneva for the next round of talks, Brahimi said.

"I hope that the second session will be more structured and hopefully more productive than the first session," he added.

Opposition delegation spokesman Louay Safi told reporters that future talks needed to show "substantial progress".

"We're not going to stay here month after month just talking without progress," he said.

After days of deadlock, both sides voiced optimism on Wednesday, calling the talks "positive".

"Today we had a positive step forward because for the first time now we are talking about the transitional governing body," Safi said.

The opposition said it sees a transitional government as the first step towards a political solution and insisted that Assad leave power.

They claim that the Geneva I communique, a never-implemented roadmap developed during 2012 talks, calls for a transitional government.

But the regime denies the document requires Assad to resign.

"The government officials have been telling us over and over that Assad will not leave power, that he will continue his constitutional term and even has the right to run for president again," said Al Jazeera's Basma Atassi, reporting from Geneva on Monday.

Both sides are conflicted over what role Geneva I should play in current talks.

The Geneva negotiations are considered the biggest diplomatic push to get both sides together to end Syria's war, which has killed more than 130,000 and displaced millions more.

The first round of talks is expected to end on Friday.

PHOTO CAPTION

Louay Safi, spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition, Syria's main political opposition group, gestures as he answers journalists' questions while sitting in his car to leave the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014

Al-Jazeera