Syrian internal opposition says it has legitimate right to take part in talks - Russian foreign ministry

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Syria’s internal opposition has said it has a legitimate right to take part in the negotiations in Geneva. The issue was discussed at the meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov and the delegation of the internal Syrian opposition. "The opposition delegation declared the legitimate right of the opponents of the Syrian authorities who have never left the country and have first-hand information about what is happening in Syria to take part in the intra-Syrian talks on equal terms," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "The opposition members stressed that they were ready to play a positive role in the political settlement of the Syrian crisis." The Russian side reaffirmed its "principled stance in favor of the need to make sure that the entire range of the Syrian opposition is represented in the intra-Syrian dialogue." "This is the requirement of the Vienna documents of the International Syria Support Group and Resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council," the ministry said. "It was stressed that we had insisted on complying with this very important provision since the beginning of preparations for the talks, including during the contacts with UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura, who was mandated to form a substantial delegation of the Syrian opposition," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. Read more