Moscow is offering a platform for informal talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian opposition and Lakhdar Brahimi, Special Envoy of the UN and Arab League, said Mikhail Bogdanov, Special Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Deputy Foreign Minister.
Vladimir Yevseyev, Director of the Center for Socio-Political Studies, believes that the Geneva-2 Conference will be nothing more than an intermediate stage of talks and hopes to see a breakthrough in spring. He noted that neither Assad nor the opposition wanted to talk. The expert added that the conference should be held with the participation of Iran or without it.
Andrey Baklanov, an advisor to the deputy head of the Federation Council of Russia and deputy head of the Association of Russian Diplomats, recommended that the Geneva-2 Conference have the format of a council. He stated that opposition was expecting more support to end the regime. Baklanov doubts that most of the rebels are ready for power.
