Zakharova reiterated on Tuesday that the future of al-Assad was not discussed at the last ministerial meeting in Vienna, where the launch of a dialogue process in Syria was discussed.
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Pointing out that opposition groups will also be included at a few point, she added: “We don’t believe we’re ready for the discussions until the worldwide community can reach a greater consensus about the path forward”.
The United States said Wednesday that Russia’s air war in Syria had “dangerously exacerbated” the conflict and accused Moscow of seeking to bolster President Bashar al-Assad’s regime instead of targeting jihadists.
Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the fate of President Assad should be decided by the Syrian people and that keeping him in power is not crucial to Russia’s objectives.
“There is no transitional period in Syria”.
Deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said the contact with the opposition groups was “useful”, both in terms of “fighting terrorism and promoting the political process”, speaking to Interfax news agency.
Russian Federation earlier this year hosted two meetings with government representatives and members of the political opposition, which did not include the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed political opposition group. “There’ll be a time and place when the opposition groups will be represented”.
The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it was premature for the Russian government to invite Syrian opposition to talks in Russia.
“Such close cooperation will allow us to unite the efforts of the government troops with other patriotic forces in Syria that used to be in the opposition and act as a united front against the common enemy – global terrorism”, the defence ministry said.
Khoja said last week the Russian air strikes were meant to prop up Assad and had helped Islamic State militants who have taken control of large areas of the country.
In July, Mistura put forth the initiative before the UN Security Council, which calls for consultations and discussions with Syrian parties in four thematic working groups.
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The coalition boycotted peace talks held in Russian Federation in January and April, distrustful of the Kremlin and dismissing Damascus rivals who attended as token opposition, but it sent a delegation to Moscow in August. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the journalist was killed in shelling of the government-held Dahiyat al-Assad neighborhood, which has been frequently targeted by rebel attacks.
