Moscow, SANA – Russian President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov called for holding a new international conference that involves all the parties in Syria to reach a settlement for the crisis.
Speaking in an interview with the Russian TASS news agency on Tuesday, Bogdanov said the inter-Syrian consultative meetings which Moscow hosted in January and April this year came in the framework of the efforts aimed at preparing for Geneva-3 conference with wider representation of the parties concerned.
The two rounds of inter-Syrian talks held in Moscow brought together representatives of the Syrian government and opposition figures, with the two sides approving “Moscow Principles” guidelines in the first and a unified paper assessing the “status quo in Syria” item of a Russian-proposed schedule in the second.
Bogdanov said Russia is willing to host more of such inter-Syrian consultations to prepare for a third Geneva conference, after two rounds of talks on the crisis in Syria were held in the Swiss city in 2012 and 2013.
He added that the consultations which the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura are currently holding in Geneva and the calls made among the Syrians themselves all come in the same framework.
He expected that the ongoing Geneva consultations may last for about 6 weeks, reminding that de Mistura will be holding separate meetings with representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition groups as well as the regional and international players.
Bogdanov said the most influential parties should be invited to Geneva-3 conference, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Syria’s neighboring countries, in addition to some of the UN Security Council’s permanent members and UN representatives.
He pointed out that the form of Geneva-3 conference will be in agreement with the Geneva Communiqué of June 30, 2012 that stipulates for launching dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition groups, stressing that Moscow still considers the Communiqué as the irreplaceable basis to settle the crisis in Syria.
Russian envoy discusses with de Mistura crisis in Syria
Meanwhile, Russian envoy to the UN in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin discussed with UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura means of settling the crisis in Syria.
“The meeting comes within the consultations being run by Mistura since May 5thwith representatives of the Syrian government and opposition and with international, regional players, including the five permanent member states at UN Security Council,” Russia Today TV website quoted Borodavkin as saying.
Borodavkin described consultations as “being conducted within constructive atmospheres,” which deal with a complete circle of issues relevant to means of solving the crisis in Syria, with referring to the importance of the two meetings which were held in Moscow between representatives of Syrian government and opposition.
He added consultations between Russia and the UN on the crisis in Syria would continue.
Manar al-Frieh/Haifa Said/ Mazen
