Lavrov calls for drawing lessons from failure of Geneva-2 talks on Syria

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The sides should draw lessons from the failure of the Geneva-2 talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday, adding that a whole range of opposition forces should participate in the talks on the Syrian settlement. "I would not formulate so emphatically that without the Moscow-3, the efficiency of the Geneva-3 is under threat," Lavrov said after talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem, answering a respective question. "It is absolutely not important where to hold preparatory consultative meetings. It is most important to draw lessons from the reasons behind the failure of the Geneva-2," Lavrov stressed. Lavrov said the Geneva-2 talks failed as Western partners and some countries of the region placed their stake on a single opposition group, the so-called National Coalition, declaring it the only legal representative of the Syrian people. The majority of Syria’s opposition groups, who maintained a patriotic rather than aggressive position and called for the political settlement in the country, have been ignored, Lavrov said. "It is important to correct this mistake," Russia’s top diplomat stressed. "In my opinion, there is some success here as twice at the Moscow venue and in Cairo and as part of other efforts by a whole range of countries opposition members are beginning to unite," he said. At the Moscow-2 meeting in April, "the government and the majority of opposition groups agreed on a document containing the principles of preserving and developing the Syrian state in the interests of all peoples and religious communities," Lavrov said. "Yes, it is not specific enough, and a whole range of provisions need to be detailed, and we want to contribute to this. Only Syrians themselves can do this," Lavrov added. "We believe that the work under these principles should be joined by those opposition forces that did not come to Moscow but they were present at the Egyptian venue," he said. "Together with the Egyptians, we have been rather actively coordinating our actions and expect that in the long run, a whole opposition spectrum will be represented at the talks with the government based on the Geneva communique," he said. This communique envisages "achieving consensus between the Syrians themselves and mutual agreement on how to live further in their common state," Lavrov said. Read more