Russia is willing to meet with the Riyadh-formed Syrian opposition although it has not received such requests Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday.
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In the meantime, Saudi Arabia reiterated its support for the Supreme negotiating body for revolutionary forces and the Syrian opposition’s decision to participate in the Geneva conference negotiations in order to implement the Security Council’s Resolution 2254 with all of its clauses.
“We discussed that with the United States and a more specific discussion will follow in Munich at the International Syria Support Group on February 11”, Lavrov said.
Lavrov went on to address the Syrian opposition’s demand that Russian Federation relent its bombing campaign as a “precondition” for talks, arguing that it was quite “shortsighted” of them to expect that preconditions “set in the forms of ultimatums, can resolve problems”. He added that Moscow will do its best to ensure the participants are guided by the needs of Syria, and not by personal interests.
“As for a specific aspect of ceasefire, we have very pragmatic considerations of our own on that score as to how to implement them in practice”, Lavrov said.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition (66 member states) has not exactly been successful in fighting terrorism in Syria over the one-and-a-half years of its existence, Lavrov noted.
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“I can’t see any reason why we should halt our aerial operations until the terrorist shall be defeated”, said Lavrov.
