No reason to postpone Syrian talks - Lavrov

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. There is no longer any reason to further postpone intra-Syrian talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with representatives of the Syrian opposition on Friday. "The Riyadh group (High Negotiations Committee) has said it is only possible to sit down for the talks after the cessation of hostilities," he said. "Once that the military actions have been terminated and a cease-fire established, there should be no slim excuses," he added. According to Lavrov, it is impossible to constantly look back at the position of the Riyadh group when planning the talks. "This way we may never start them," he said. "We consider the Astana meeting as an important and breakthrough step towards settlement, as now the armed opposition groups are involved in those processes, whereas previously they did not participate in the contacts with the government and in the processes tied with the talks concerning the country’s future on the whole," Lavrov said. Read more