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356104
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 16:43
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Syrian government, opposition representatives need more meetings in Moscow - Syrian ambassador

MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Two or three more meetings between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition in Moscow are needed for the sides to agree upon the further format of negotiations, after which the process may be continued in Damascus, Syrian Ambassador in Moscow Riyad Haddad told TASS on Tuesday. "We may need two or three such meetings that we are ready to hold in Moscow under the patronage of the Russian Foreign Ministry," he said. "However, we supposed that after such consultations in Moscow when the sides agree on the negotiating process parameters, representatives of the government and opposition may begin talks in Damascus." "Part of the opposition has agreed to our proposal and part has rejected our initiative, there are also those willing to arrive, but under certain guarantees," he added. Answering a question when the next meeting will be held, the Syrian ambassador said that "the timeframe of the negotiating process has not been determined yet." "We support meetings in the form of consultations, but the exact date of next consultations has also not been set yet," he said. "This will be decided based on the consultations between the parties and the Russian side." Previously, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow’s intra-Syrian consultations have reflected growing sentiments inside Syria in favour of more active and effective steps aimed to restore peace in Syria. "On January 29 an intra-Syrian meeting on the ‘Moscow floor’ ended," the ministry said on Friday, January 30. "A direct contact between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition has been the first since last February when the intra-Syrian talks were disrupted. [The meetings] were held at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry and moderated by Russian academic strata headed by Vitaly Naumkin, chief of the Oriental Studies Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences." The negotiators have approved so-called "Moscow principles," which summarise both sides’ principled approaches and are aimed at preserving Syria as a sovereign and territorially integral state where all population groups feel protected and comfortable, the ministry said. Along with this, an appeal to the international community was drafted and then adopted at the talks. The ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his speech at a meeting with representatives of Syria’s government and opposition "underlined our consecutive line aiming to assist in Syria’s political settlement on the principles of the Geneva communiqué adopted on June 30, 2012 as well as adherence to and support of the efforts within the framework of the Geneva process." Meanwhile, leader of the Syrian opposition Popular Front for Change and Liberation Qadri Jamil told a news conference on January 30 that the next meeting between the Syrian opposition and government representatives might take place in Moscow in late February. "The agreement has been reached to entrust the Russian side, in particular, the Institute of Oriental Studies, with the preparation of a second meeting that is to be held roughly in a month and with developing its agenda," Jamil said. According to him, "All the sides should make efforts to hold the meeting within the specified time." "The consultations that have been held in Moscow have already put the dialogue on a new track," he said. Read more

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