Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Moscow, SANA – Russian President’s Special Envoy to the Middle East and North Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov stressed that his country stands by resuming the inter-Syrian dialogue for finding a solution to the crisis in Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed on November 7th in Moscow the issue of resuming inter-Syrian dialogue with the opposition bodies as talks focused on ” the necessity of moving the crisis in Syria to the political track, Russia Today quoted Bogdanov as saying in a press conference held Tuesday in Moscow.
Bogdanov indicated that two points were prioritized which are “fighting terrorism and holding political negotiations that would lead to a dialogue and an agreement between the Syrian legitimate government and the opposition.”
He stressed that both sides agreed on the necessity of participation of regional and foreign parties such as Russia, US , Iran ,Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, adding that all of these issues pave the way for preparing to hold the 3rd Geneva conference.
He added that Russia has always supported solving problems through peaceful means and national dialogue without any foreign interference, but regrettably some of its regional and Western partners support the other viewpoint regarding Syria which is toppling the regime and supporting armed extremist groups in a way that led to the appearance of new extremist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria “ISIS”, Jabhat al-Nusra and others.
launching airstrikes by the US and its allies against the positions of the Islamists, particularly in Syria is being done without any authorization by the UN Security Council and without the approval of the legitimate government in Damascus in a way that may lead to dangerous effects on the locals, Bogdanov elaborated.
He pointed out that fighting terrorism mustn’t serve the geopolitical interests in any way, or the results will be very miserable, therefore, the international law and consensus should be the basis, adding that the operations of countering terrorism in the region should be based on a suitable resolution by the UN Security Council.
He said that with the aggravation of the situation in Syria, there are real reasons to fear about the fate of the Christians who live in the country from 2000 years ago, warning against the repetition of the Iraqi scenario where the number of Christians decreased from 1,5 millions to 150 thousand.
In a press conference held earlier on the day at Sheraton Hotel in Damascus, UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura stressed the need to focus on fighting Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organizations and to give priority to reaching a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri/
