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393651
Thu, 01/14/2016 - 09:56
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Russia-US-UN format meeting on Syria ends in Geneva

GENEVA, January 13. /TASS/. Negotiations on Syria in the Russia-US-UN format have ended in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday. Consultations of representatives of the five permanent UN Security Council member states started immediately after that. The trilateral meeting lasted for more than 4 hours. The sides at the talks were represented by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne W. Patterson and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. The talks agenda included working out of the lists of the Syrian opposition and terrorists. The high-ranking diplomats considered matters related to implementing the results of the two rounds of ministerial-level talks held in Vienna on October 30 and November 14 last year. Although the agreements reached at the Vienna consultations of December 18 were fixed in a UN Security Council resolution, the task of compiling the lists of the opposition and terrorists has not been fulfilled. Wednesday’s meeting preceded the inter-Syrian negotiations scheduled for January 25 in Geneva. Gatilov has held a number of consultations on Wednesday with the Syrian opposition representatives. The year of 2016 which was expected to give an impetus to the process of political settlement in Syria has started with not so positive developments. Serious disagreements arose between several external players as Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic ties with Iran. These disagreements complicate the resolution of the Syrian conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "It hampers the efforts to settle the Syrian crisis and the fight against terrorism, as well as the process of halting the inflow of refugees to Europe, that much is certain," Putin said in an interview with German daily Bild. The external opposition that has not yet created a united delegation with internal opponents of the regime blasts Damascus with new criticism and sets preconditions for starting a dialogue with the government of President Bashar Assad. The Syrian authorities are also accused of blocking the city of Madaya where people are dying from starvation. Opposition members even make statements that threaten the whole political process. In particular, some representatives of the opposition said that negotiations cannot start until Syrian cities are subjected to foreign bombings. However, they did not mention support provided to terrorists from the outside. Russia has from the very start spoken in favor of simultaneous efforts in launching a political process and fighting against terrorism. "I believe political reforms are needed so much there (in Syria). The first step in that direction should be to develop and adopt a new Constitution," Putin said, adding that "it is a complicated process." After that, early presidential and parliamentary elections should be held in Syria on the basis of the new Constitution, the Russian president said. "It is the Syrian people themselves who must decide who and how should run their country. This is the only way to achieve stability and security, to create conditions for economic growth and prosperity, so that people can live in their own homes, in their homeland, rather than flee to Europe," the Russian leader said. Read more

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