Russia’s position on Syria remains unchanged - FM Lavrov

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Russia’s position on Syria has remained unchanged, and it is up to the Syrians to decide their country’s fate without any interference from outside, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Monday. "Our position has not changed, we have always said that the Syrians should themselves decide Syria’s fate, without foreign interference, without any preliminary scenarios, preconditions, without any recipes imposed by this or that external player," Lavrov said. "We remain on the solid ground of the Geneva communique, under which the issues of overcoming the Syrian crisis should be solved at talks between the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and a delegation of the opposition that should represent the whole range of opponents to the Syrian leadership," the Russian foreign minister said. "So, all decisions on possible transitional moves and reforms in that country, any decisions at talks between the government and the opposition must be made on the basis of mutual consent of the government and its opponents," Lavrov added. At talks with colleagues from the US, Mideast countries, the Persian Gulf region "we directly and making no bones say that yes, our positions do coincide as to a need to ensure solely political settlement of the Syrian crisis, or we also say making no bones about it that we have differences, including on the fate of the incumbent legitimate president of Syria", Lavrov said. "If some of our partners believe that it is necessary to agree in advance that at the end of the transitional period the president will quit his post, Russia does not accept this position," the top Russian diplomat said. "This is what we are saying. The Syrians themselves must decide. It is necessary to sit down to the negotiating table, to stop pretending that only one opposition group has the whole legitimacy that the so-called international community has granted to it," he said. "We must secure that all opposition circles be presented in the delegation that must develop without any precondition a constructive platform for talks with the delegation of the legitimate government of the Syrian Arab Republic," Lavrov said. "This is our stance. I hope everybody can see for themselves that this position has remained unchanged from the very start of the Syrian crisis," he added. Read more