The National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) is set to visit Moscow on August 13 to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, member of the NCSROF executive committee Badr Jamous told Sputnik on Monday.
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“We think that Bashar al-Assad is part of the problem, not part of the solution”.
He admitted that there remained “persistent differences” between Riyadh and Moscow over how to tackle the Syrian conflict.
The Russian Foreign Minister also had a meeting referring the same issue with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
“Assad was a fully legitimate partner in destroying chemical arms but somehow he is not in fighting terrorism”, Lavrov said, referring to a chemical disarmament deal brokered by Moscow and Washington earlier in the conflict.
It said they would discuss Russia’s proposal to create a “broad worldwide coalition to fight ISIL gunmen inside Syria”. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called in a recent interview with state TV channel Rossiya 1 showed for an end to “double standards” in order to unite against ISIL, the “common enemy”, before finding peace in Syria.
Despite the Iran nuclear deal that was signed with the six world powers – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States and Germany – in July, Al-Jubeir stated that Iran will go ahead and manufacture nuclear weapons according to a news report in the Saudi Gazette. However, he said Russian Federation was not proposing a unified command.
Despite the ongoing enmity between Riyadh and Tehran, its regional counterweight and biggest foe, Saturday’s reported comments could signal a major policy shift for Saudi Arabia, which has always been opposed to any solution that could see Assad remain in power.
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The U.S. also maintains its goal of pursuing the train-and-equip program – a program which is also supported by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
