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Assad Has No Place in Syria’s Future, Saudi Foreign Minister Says

Lavrov is due to discuss Syria and Isis with Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir in Moscow on Tuesday.

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In regard to a coalition where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Syrian government could possibly participate together is out of the question.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says some draft ideas are emerging on how to unite global efforts to fight islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Earlier this year, Moscow hosted some members of the Syrian opposition for consultations, but the National Coalition has until now refused to visit Russian Federation. “I believe he can give up Assad”, the Turkish president said.

The source who spoke to al-Hayat, who declined to be named, dubbed the talks a “miracle meeting”, coming less than three weeks after Saudi Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman flew to St Petersburg to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow is also inviting Saleh Muslim, head of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in a sign of the growing complexity of the country’s conflict.

Russian Federation and the US haven’t yet developed a common approach given the “contradictions between the various players on the ground”, Lavrov said after meeting Kerry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.

Throughout the conflict, Damascus and its allies in Moscow and Tehran have tended to be more optimistic than their enemies about the prospects for diplomacy, making the case that the Assad government could be rehabilitated in its foes’ eyes.

The Syrian source also said the roots of the Daesh terrorist group are in Saudi Arabia, adding that Riyadh and the Takfiri group share the mentality and practices of beheading, dismemberment, and flogging in the name of Islam. However, Riyadh’s requirement for Russian kit is questionable, raising the possibility that its overtures to Moscow are primarily designed to limit arms exports to Iran.

According to United Nations estimates, the Syrian civil war has killed over 200,000 people since it began over four years ago.

The comments were reportedly made during a meeting in Riyadh on 7 July that included Ali Mamlouk, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s intelligence chief.

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“We agreed to continue thinking about steps that should be taken to create a suitable environment to resume dialogue between the Syrian government and all other Syrian groups”, Lavrov said of his discussion with Jubeir.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir attend a news conference after a meeting in Moscow Russia Aug. 11 2015