Russia said Tuesday it supports the inclusion of all opposition parties in Syrian peace talks, including representatives of two hard-line Islamic groups, as President Bashar Assad’s troops captured a village north of Syria’s largest city with the aid of Russian airstrikes.
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“Naturally after five years of this most gruesome spectacle of seeing the Syrian public subjected to public executions we hope and pray that the talks being mediated by (UN Syria envoy) Staffan de Mistura will lead to the end of all of these horrific abuses, human rights abuses, violations of global humanitarian law”, he said.
A formal start of the talks was marked on Monday, when de Mistura met opposition delegates formed in Saudi Arabia, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), in the UN Office at Geneva.
The opposition group also vowed it will “strive to join the political process” on ending the country’s civil war, a spokesman said after receiving “positive messages” from the United Nations special envoy.
A Western diplomat said that on Sunday UN envoy Staffan de Mistura made proposals to a mistrustful HNC in talks in a Geneva hotel, but that they were still hesitating.
The government’s military assault has overshadowed de Mistura’s attempts to convene the first peace negotiations in two years, meant to start as “proximity talks”, with government and opposition delegations in separate rooms.
“The discussions should be officially declared open in the presence of the two sides, two delegations, which has not happened yet”, Jaafari said. “We are not here to have talks about talks”, he said. The meeting came one day after de Mistura announced the beginning of peace talks proper in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The Syrian government and opposition should take measures to build trust in each other, by lifting sieges and allowing humanitarian access, to contribute to the success of the talks, the spokesperson said.
He also urged Russian Federation to end airstrikes in Syria.
“The first immediate objective is to make sure that the talks continue and that everyone is on board”, De Mistura told reporters.
Representatives for Assad arrived in Geneva on Friday followed reluctantly a day later by the opposition umbrella group the High Negotiations Committee (HNC).
He said more than 15 government fighters and 20 rebels had been killed in the fighting since Monday.
AFAD said more than 150 migrants have been placed at a new camp in Guvecci, on the Turkish side of the border, while others have been sent to refugee camps in the border provinces of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa.
The United Nations said on Monday the Syrian government had approved “in principle” a UN request for aid deliveries to the town of Madaya, under siege from government forces, as well as the towns of al-Foua and Kefraya, beset by insurgents.
Farah Atassi, a member of the HNC, said they planned to give Mr de Mistura a “road map” for the implementation of their demands.
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The envoy said he understood opposition concerns on the humanitarian situation and that if the government released women and children prisoners it would be a “signal that something is happening”.
