Intra-Syrian talks in Moscow yielded practical results on some aspects - President Assad

STOCKHOLM, April 17. /TASS/. Intra-Syrian consultations, held in the Russian capital of Moscow earlier this month between the authorities of the Middle East country and the opposition, yielded practical results, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with Swedish daily Expressen. "We can say that for the first time during the consultations an accord was achieved on some principles, which can form a basis for the future intra-Syrian dialogue," Assad said adding that the process of coordination on the principles of the mooted agreement was not over yet. "The agenda of the consultations was intense and two days of the negotiations were not enough to discuss all of the issues," the Syrian leader said. "Nevertheless, when there is a breakthrough achieved, even a partial one, it means that the next meeting will be promising in perspectives of reaching an all-embracing agreement on the principles of a dialogue, which would put an end to the conflict." The recent intra-Syrian consultations in Moscow between April 6 and 9 were the second this year organized by the Russian authorities in a bid to find a way to the settlement of the ongoing bloody conflict in the Middle East state. The January 26-29 meetings were followed by the publication of the "Moscow principles", which in particular included Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, counteraction to terrorism and inadmissibility of outside interference. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants left over 200,000 people killed and displaced millions since its start in 2011. An international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States and designed to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis, held in January and February 2014, brought no particular progress. Read more