Indirect Syrian talks going on in Geneva

Mediated, indirect inter-Syrian talks were resumed under the UN aegis in Geneva on March 14. Damascus hopes that the talks will be logical and correspond to international law. The governmental delegation of Syria that arrived to Geneva “respects the principles of preserving our country's integrity,” the Ambassador of Syria to Russia, Riyad Haddad, stated. Efforts to facilitate the political process in Syria and achieving a settlement based on the mutual accord of the Syrian parties on the country’s future arrangement are among the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy.

The Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated that “Russia’s efforts – be it in the format of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) or the conduct of a counterterrorist operation by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria in full conformity with the universally recognized norms of international law and legality – are aimed at creating favourable conditions for ensuring a comprehensive peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis and, naturally, the final eradication of the hotbed of terrorism on Syrian land.

During the contacts we are urging our international and regional partners to do their utmost to promote the success of the Geneva negotiations. As we’ve already said, it may happen that there will be no other chance to achieve peace and stability in Syria in the foreseeable future. Everyone should realise that those will try to question or derail the peace talks that are being resumed in Geneva have opted for continued violence in Syria.”

The government delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic is already working in Geneva. The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, held a meeting with it on March 15. Representatives of several groups of the Syrian opposition, both émigré and from Syria per se, have arrived and continue to arrive in Geneva. “It is very important to have complete representation of the Syrian opposition at the talks, including the Kurds that have been in the forefront of the anti-terrorist struggle."

"We have invariably emphasised the need for clear-cut implementation of the principles of inter-Syrian dialogue that are registered in the Geneva Communiqué of June 30, 2012, the ISSG documents and UN Security Council Resolution 2254. No separate isolated group should be singled out from the broad range of the Syrian opposition and allowed to position itself or be presented as the only equitable partner of official Damascus at the negotiations,” Zakharova said.

At the moment, the government delegation of Syria hopes that all opposition groups in Geneva will unite into a single delegation, the head of the Syrian governmental delegations, Bashar Jaafari, told TASS.

At the same time, Maria Zakharova thinks that it would be inappropriate to ignore the fact that the opinions of the members of the Syrian opposition are hugely dispersed: “On the one hand, this may create difficulties at the talks, but on the other hand, this may stabilise the negotiating process and eventually reflect in the adopted decisions the multi-religious and multi-ethnic character of Syrian society that unites all Syrians without exception.”