Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday highlighted the need to decide which of the various opposition groups fighting in Syria should be a part of future peace talks and which should be considered terrorists.
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“In the course of the training, issues of warning, organization of interaction and information exchange between the staffs of the operational groups and control centers of the Russian Air Force at the Hmeymim airbase and the US Strategic Air Operations Center in Qatar as well as the mutual informing of risky military activities in the air space of Syria were practiced”, Kartapolov said.
De Mistura has since been to Damascus to brief the government on the talks and called for new ceasefires on the ground to build on the diplomatic efforts.
RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope yesterday that diplomats would agree on a list of opposition groups to be invited to UN-brokered talks on peace in Syria.
“Now we are in contact with the representatives of different opposition groups to get them to come to Moscow”.
“As we accelerate our own work with Turkey and other like-minded partners to roll back ISIL in northern Syria, a collateral benefit could be the creation of a space where Syrian civilians are free from Assad’s barrel bombs, as well as ISIL’s atrocities”, she said.
Neither Syria’s regime nor opposition were represented, but countries backing either side were present.
That’s a big step for a country that has long insisted Assad is the person best poised to tackle the challenges Syria faces, like the stubborn and growing presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Al Arabiya also reported that Syria’s state-run Arab News Agency (SANA) refused to run Jafari’s critique of Russian Federation, opting instead to say that the IRGC commander only stressed Iran’s non-intervention in the internal affairs of its neighbors.
The Syrian government’s recent offensives, aided by Russian airstrikes, have displaced more than 123,000 people, the United Nations said earlier this week.
Acknowledging having seen reports that Russians will hold a meeting between the Syrian government and members of the opposition next week, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters that “We think it’s premature”.
Syria’s skies are becoming increasingly crowded as Russian Federation and a US-led coalition carry out separate air campaigns.
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The British government on Tuesday denied it was abandoning plans for a parliamentary vote to join air strikes in Syria as an influential committee of MPs advised against action.
