Syrian armed rebel groups said on Saturday they held the Syrian government and Russian Federation responsible for any failure of peace talks to end the country’s civil war, even before negotiations due to start in Geneva next week.
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He met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Zurich on Wednesday and was going to talk to Saudi officials this weekend, all aimed at finding agreement on what groups should be allowed at the negotiating table.
“It is likely the 25th may slip by a few days for practical reasons”, said Jessy Chahine, a spokesperson for UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is scheduled to host the talks.
The UN says it will not issue invitations to the talks until the major powers agree on which opposition representatives should attend.
The French diplomat, echoing similar views expressed by Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, voiced opposition to any new delegation emerging for the January 25 talks.
Kerry insisted on Thursday that the talks would go ahead in Geneva next week, though he said they would not be face-to-face.
In a relevant context, Russian President’s special envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Bogdanov said earlier that the Syrian opposition should not put preconditions that could obstruct the inter-Syrian talks scheduled in Geneva, asserting that the Syrian opposition will bear a historic responsibility if it hinders the talks.
France has been a key backer of moderate opposition forces battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been advising them on how to prepare for proposed U.N.-backed talks next week involving the Syrian government.
He told AFP it was “impossible” for him to participate in an opposition delegation with figures like Mohamed Alloush, whose Jaish al-Islam group is active mostly around Damascus.
George Sabra, a senior opposition official, said the obstacles to the talks were still there, reiterating demands for the lifting of blockades on populated areas and the release of detainees, measures set out in a December 18 Security Council resolution that endorsed the peace process.
United Nations officials say they are focused on starting the talks as planned on Monday.
Mounzer Khaddam, a member of the Syria-based National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria who is part of the Saudi-named delegation, said in a statement that choosing a chief negotiator from the armed opposition “is a wrong message to the Syrian people that are hoping the talks will be successful”.
Kerry also came to Saudi Arabia to try to diffuse tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and urge Riyadh to restore diplomatic relations with Tehran.
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Biden said that the United States and Turkey “are prepared” for a military solution if a political solution is “not possible”.
