Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country has been a pivotal player along with the U.S. in helping bring about the talks, told reporters in Abu Dhabi that Russia believes all opposition parties in Syria except for the Islamic State group and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front should take part in the negotiations.
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“Last night and today we are receiving reports of massive escalation of Russian and regime military aggression on Aleppo and Homs, including attacks on hospitals and critical infrastructure”.
The explosions occurred as representatives of Syria’s government and its divided opposition began convening in Geneva for the first U.N.-mediated peace talks in two years.
Russian airstrikes in Syria are threatening the Geneva peace talks, the mainstream opposition has said after its representatives decided not to attend a scheduled meeting with the United Nations envoy overseeing the fragile process.
“As far as we are concerned, their arrival at the Palais des Nations and initiating the discussions with us is the official beginning of the Geneva talks”, said UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who already met the HNC yesterday, but at their hotel, not at the UN’s Geneva headquarters.
The opposition was considering a proposal from De Mistura that could pave the way to the delegation pressing ahead with talks after holding their first meeting with him on Sunday, a Western diplomatic source said.
However, at the moment de Mistura’s talks with the delegation of the opposition have not been confirmed.
“The [Syrian] regime’s and Russia’s actions gravely threaten the political process at this early stage”, the opposition statement said. “We are going to insist on all our demands being applied”, he said.
One of these, the HNC’s chief negotiator, is Mohammed Alloush from the powerful Islamist armed rebel group Army of Islam, or Jaish al-Islam, who arrived in Geneva late on Monday.
A US official said that Anne Patterson, assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs and US Syria envoy Michael Ratney were due to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov on Monday in 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.
The negotiations will be, as the United Nations had always planned, proximity talks.
The warning was sounded by the Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC), which sent a 17-strong opposition team, including three rebel leaders, to the Swiss city on Saturday.
The devastating war in Syria has ravaged the country for almost five years, killing more than 260,000 people and forcing millions to flee their homes.
The monitoring group said at least 11 civilians, including two Red Crescent volunteers, were killed in the attacks – in addition to 39 government troops and rebel fighters.
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In a November meeting in Vienna, world powers agreed on an ambitious road map that foresees six months of intra-Syrian talks, leading to a new constitution and free elections within 18 months.
