By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to provide about $100 million (65.6 million pounds) in new non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition that could include for the first time battlefield support equipment such as body armour and night-vision goggles, a U.S. official said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Thursday that the conflict raging in Syria could cleave it into rival enclaves, as he prepares for weekend talks on the crisis in Turkey. The aim of the next Friends of Syria talks in Istanbul on Saturday is "to get everybody on the same page with respect to what post-Assad" Syria will look like, Kerry told US senators, highlighting the need to ensure that "Qataris, Saudis, Emirates, Turks, Europeans" all have the same goals in mind.

By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - In an implicit warning to international supporters of Syrian opposition forces, Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday that efforts to isolate one side in the conflict would wreck the chances of a negotiated solution and help militant Islamists. Sergei Lavrov said the Friends of Syria group, which is meeting in Istanbul this weekend, had so far had a negative influence on implementing a 2012 accord among world powers aimed at resolving the war through talks among all sides.

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hopes to revamp his role as an international peace mediator in the Syrian conflict as a United Nations envoy without any official link to the Arab bloc, U.N. diplomats said on Tuesday. Brahimi has become increasingly frustrated with the league's moves to recognize the Syrian opposition, which he feels has undermined his role as a neutral mediator, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.