He acknowledged that the global community remains divided on whether the Syrian president should be allowed to stay in power after a peace deal, but added: “Assad remains a magnet for terrorism”.
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The Syrian regime has a responsibility – in fact, all parties to the conflict have a duty to facilitate humanitarian access to Syrians in desperate need.
The Observatory said Wednesday’s incident took place in the northwestern province of Latakia, where it says rebel groups fighting against the regime operate, but not IS. “If Turkeys provocation was meant to achieve this goal, its inventors have obviously failed”, the Foreign minister said. “It’s premature to discuss Assad’s fate – if we force him out, the whole state will collapse”, he said in an interview in Geneva.
“I couldn’t tell you much about what’s going on because we are waiting for Godot and Godot hasn’t come yet” he said.
According to the Moscow read-out, Lavrov also voiced concern about “unacceptable” preliminary conditions being put forward by “some representatives” of the Syrian opposition.
Russian Federation responded by saying that the two diplomats both agreed to bring humanitarian aid to the affected areas by air.
On Jan. 19, Russia’s Tass news agency said Russian aircraft made 157 sorties in the previous four days against 579 terrorist targets, including Islamic State strongholds.
The city is about 15 kilometers south of the Syrian-Turkish border, in the same area where the Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down.
The opposition delegation’s demands “have nothing to do with the main principles of the Geneva Communique, Vienna documents and a United Nations Security Council resolution”, Lavrov said, referring to key documents in the Syrian peace process.
Britain has pledged around $1.75 billion in new aid by 2020, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to announce a big U.S. commitment. Hammond was asked if the Iranians were providing better aid than the Russians, to which he responded: “I don’t think either of them is being particularly helpful to the peace process”.
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“We recognise that it’s hard for the regime to be at the table, talking to the opposition”, he said. The Syrian war, which has killed about 250,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes, has presented Europe with an escalated threat of terrorist attacks and a growing refugee problem.
