Next round of intra-Syrian consultations may take place in Moscow in August - ambassador

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. The third round of intra-Syrian consultations in Moscow will most likely take place in August, Syria’s Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad said on Tuesday. Damascus hopes for a broad representation of the opposition at consultations, Haddad noted. "We are preparing for this meeting, it will the third such meeting. We are optimistic and hope that the meeting will be fruitful," the ambassador said. The list of participants in the meeting has not been defined yet, the diplomat said. Russia supports political dialogue In June, the Russian delegation to the 29th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council said that Moscow is ready to push ahead with its efforts to promote intra-Syrian political process and continue the practice of organizing consultations between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition forces in Moscow. "If necessary, we are ready to continue the practice of holding consultations between representatives of Damascus and a wide spectrum of opposition groups in Moscow," a member of the Russian delegation said. "The Moscow consultations have helped to agree a common intra-Syrian platform, for the first time in the four years of conflict." The terrorist threat in Syria "has acquired a daunting scale," the Russian diplomat said and called on the commission investigating human rights violations in Syria led by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro "to keep a close eye on the activities of terrorists" from such groups as the Islamic State and Jebhat al-Nusra. The Russian diplomat noted that the international coalition’s efforts "are not yielding expected results but the death toll among civilians from bombardments, according to governmental organizations, is growing." Russia "shares the commission’s stance that there is no alternative to the diplomatics solutions to the Syrian crisis. It’s up to the Syrians themselves, with no pressure from outside, to decide about their future," the Russian diplomat stressed and expressed support to the efforts taken by United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to find a way out of this crisis. Read more