Syrian opposition must be invited, not persuaded to negotiate - Lavrov

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. The Syrian opposition that puts forward some preconditions for talks must be patiently invited to negotiate, but not persuaded to do so, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. "I believe that those interested in the settlement of the Syrian crisis and in creating conditions in which the Syrians themselves will be able to decide what they would like their country to be must accept the invitation to participate in the negotiating process," Lavrov said. "Those who put forward preconditions that UN Security Council resolutions do not provide for should be patiently invited to join in, I believe, but not persuaded." "As soon as another round of intra-Syrian talks is announced, all known opposition figures should be invited. Those who wish to attend will attend," Lavrov said. "By and large it is up to the opposition to decide if they are to have a united delegation at the intra-Syrian talks. Of course, we would prefer to see it happen that way, but we see no big problem if there are several of them (delegates from the opposition)." Lavrov recalled there was a new-comer to the negotiations on Syria - a group representing armed opposition that was represented by a common delegation in Astana. "There is the unanimity that this group should be plugged into the negotiating process," Lavrov said. "The more so, since they have already started discussing certain issues with the government delegation in the preliminary fashion." "It is clear that the dialog is at the very beginning, but we hope that the draft constitution, circulated in Astana, will encourage the Syrians to look for mutually acceptable approaches," Lavrov said. "We proceed from the understanding that nobody will be able to dictate agreements from the outside, but bearing in mind the firm deadlock over the negotiations that were started at a certain point under the auspices of the United Nations, we have no doubts about the need for introducing some practical component to these efforts in order to encourage analysis and meaningful talks." Read more