Riyadh group shouldn’t be only one to represent Syrian opposition in Geneva - Russian diplomat

TEHRAN, March 8. /TASS/. The Riyadh group should not be the only one to represent Syrian opposition at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS Monday. The participants of the consultations in Moscow, Cairo, Astana and Damascus should also go to Geneva to ensure the maximum broad representation of the Syrian opposition, Bogdanov, who is the Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East and Africa, said. "The opposition should have the maximum broad representation, which should not be confined to the Riyadh group. The oppositional Syrian leaders who participated in the meetings in Moscow and Cairo, consultations in Astana and Damascus, should also be present [at the Geneva talks]," he said. Bogdanov said work on settlement in Syria should be conducted without any preliminary conditions. "There are four aspects now: the humanitarian situation, cessation of fire, fight against terrorism and political process," he said. "On all these four aspects, parallel work should be conducted without any preliminary conditions, but, at the same time, time can’t be lost either, as all these issues require fast reaction on the part of the international community and consolidated approaches and actions," Bogdanov said. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed over 220,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011. Gangs of militants making part of various armed formations, the most active of them being the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, fight government troops. Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. Targets of the Russian aircraft include terrorists’ gasoline tankers and oil refineries. Russia’s aircraft have made thousands of sorties since the start of the operation in Syria. Read more