Russia to skip Friends of Syria conference

Russia said on Tuesday it would again skip the second Friends of Syria conference to be held this weekend in Istanbul, saying the meeting openly sided with the regime's opposition, PanArmenian.net reports
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"The first such meeting was staged on February 24 in Tunis without our involvement," foreign ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.

"This time we again intend to refrain from being involved, even though we received the corresponding invitation," he added.