Сonditions for dialogue between Syrian government and opposition must be created before the end of the year

The Deputy Vice Prime Minister of Syria, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Walid al-Moallem, is on a three-day visit to Moscow. He has already held meetings with the speaker of the State Duma Naryshkin, the Head of the Duma's International Affairs Committee of the State Duma Pushkov, the Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin, and today he will hold detailed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. The focus will be on establishing a political process to resolve the Syrian crisis.

"Russia has always actively advocated this and consistently urged both international and regional players, who have influence on the Syrian side, to contribute to inter-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the Geneva communiqué dated June 30, 2012. We also pursue this line within the framework of the recently formed with the active participation, one can say with Russian co-sponsorship, of the International Syria Support Group. I would like to reiterate that we confirm that the issues of how Syria should look and who will control it must be addressed by the Syrians themselves, as it is stipulated in all adopted international legal instruments. The current situation, at the same time, requires external forces to work together on the creation of favorable conditions for inter-Syrian dialogue, and to accompany the political process without attempting to impose ready-made solutions and any of their own schemes, " Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

According to her, in accordance with the understanding reached in the framework of the International Support Group Syria, the necessary conditions to start a dialogue between the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition should be established approximately by the end of the year.

Damascus has already determined a list of its representatives for participation in the inter-Syrian dialogue. As for the opposition groups, they still have a task to develop general political platforms and to choose a team of responsible negotiators

."Once again we repeat our firm insistence on the fact that the opposition delegation should be representative to reflect the entire spectrum of the internal and external opposition. It is one of the most important, I would even say key, conditions,"  Zakharova said.

During the talks, which are scheduled for Mr. Moallem and will be held later, the Syrian side, as we know, intends to discuss, consult on what steps could be useful in terms of building trust between official Damascus and the opposition politicians, in order to promote subsequent advancement in the inter-Syrian dialogue. As you know, we talked about this, on November 9th the Syrian government unilaterally made a statement on the non-use of indiscriminate methods of warfare, and it urged the opposing factions to reciprocate. We have also repeatedly urged this.

The status of the development prospects of bilateral Russian-Syrian relations in various fields will also be addressed. Including the continuation of the provision of Russian humanitarian aid to the affected population. Military operations across much of Syrian territory, as well as the unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria by the West, will certainly have a negative impact on the volume of trade between our two countries. At the same time, both Moscow and Damascus are optimistic about the opportunity to make up for lost time, and during the period of socio-economic recovery in Syria.

Special attention will be paid to the issues of security of Russian citizens and the foreign institutions which continue to operate in Syria..

Commenting on the tragedy on the territory of Syria, the downing of the Russian aircraft, Zakharova quoted Italian Foreign Minister Dzhentiloni, who on November 25th  spoke on TV channel Rai 1: "What happened with the aircraft looks like political phantasmagoria. Turkey, a NATO country, destroyed a Russian aircraft "

"You can't say better. Phantasmagoria. Although this event has another definition. It's a tragedy. I would like to say that an emergency meeting of the Permanent Council of the CSTO, convened on the initiative of the Russian side, took place on November 25th. Representative of the management of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation provided information about the incident. An electronic map of the area, as well as radar data, which indicate that the Russian aircraft did not cross Turkish airspace or was downed over the territory of Turkey, were reported to partners. Participants of the meeting honored the memory and expressed condolences over the deaths of the Russian soldiers. Members of the Permanent Council stated about the unacceptability of such actions, and expressed the common view that they could adversely affect the international efforts on the fight against terrorism. They also emphasized the need to consolidate international efforts in countering the terrorist threat, which increasingly assumes the character of a world-scale calamity, " Zakharova said.

According to her, in Moscow did not go unnoticed  a letter directed on November 21st by the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the Chairman of the Security Council, which he expressed the serious concerns of the Turkish side about the status of civilians of Turcoman origin in northwestern Syria in consequence of the anti-terrorist efforts in the area, conducted by the Syrian military with the support of Aerospace Forces of Russia, has not passed unnoticed. ‘’We also documented those rumors that have been circulating in New York, referring to the Turkish permanent representation, on the intention to request the convening of a UN Security Council meeting regarding this.

We have repeatedly noted different kinds of insinuations in relation to alleged civilian casualties as a result of the actions of the Russian aviation. I can say once again that none of these allegations have anything to do with reality. Russian Aerospace Forces approach the issue of inflicting strikes with great care. Through the line of the Ministry of Defence, you, and the whole international community in general, is regularly informed about what targets were attacked, the tasks that were set, which have been completed, how they were completed ",  Zakharova assured.

Meanwhile, on Smolenskaya Square believe that Ankarais not concerned about the fate of civilians, but about those whose true face all of you could see in the video, that was spread by the world media in connection with the fact that Turkish Air Force downed a Russian aircraft Su-24.

Zakharova turned to the Turkish counterparts in Ankara: ‘’Do you want to present these people as civilians? Are people in bandages,  with weapons  civilians? I know people who live in Turkey very well. Those are my friends. I have many friends there. They truly are civilian people. Those people that Ankara is trying to protect with all available, and sometimes, as we now understand, with criminal methods, have no relation to civilians, to innocent civilians. If those are not people which Ankara defends, then we are waiting for official agencies in Turkey to give an appropriate refutation that these people have nothing to do with Turkey and that the Turkish side is simply expressing resentment towards those actions which they committed in relation to the Russian pilot, to his dead body, over which they scoffed. I repeat, we are waiting for such statements from the Turkish side. Either confirm that  you're protecting these people, and then we will see what kind of ‘moderate opposition’ it is and who are the defenders of the ‘democratic values.’ Either tell that you have nothing to do with them and express your attitude to their actions "