Lavrov: Russia seeks to develop Astana and Geneva tracks on settling crisis in Syria in a coordinated manner

Moscow, SANA-Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed on Wednesday that Russia seeks to develop the Astana and Geneva tracks on the settlement of the crisis in Syria in a coordinated manner.

In a press conference with Saudi regime’s foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Moscow, Lavrov said that the initiative to launch the Astana meetings has played a crucial role in stimulating the resumption of the Geneva process and Moscow wants to develop both processes in a coordinated manner, pointing out that the aim of the Astana process is to find mechanisms to respect the cessation of hostilities agreement.

He pointed out that the Iranian advisors and Hezbollah are just as Russian Aerospace Forces are in Syria at the invitation of the country’s government, adding that the recent reconciliations in Syria allowed the protection of civilians, as it happened in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo with the help of Russia.

Lavrov renewed his country’s call for a full and objective investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) through a balanced mechanism to identify those responsible for the alleged chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun in Idleb countryside.

Earlier, Lavrov said that what happened in Khan Sheikhoun is a provocation that requires a transparent, open and detailed investigation, adding that Russia sees attempts to besiege the investigation and use this incident to change the international agenda and to change the regime in Syria.

In response to a question about the dispute between Russia and the Saudi regime over the crisis in Syria, Lavrov said “we know Saudi Arabia’s stance and it is clear that our approaches to this are not identical, to put it mildly.”

“But we are unanimous that a settlement of the Syrian crisis requires the involvement of all Syrian parties without any exceptions, and of all foreign actors that can exercise influence on the internal parties, except for the terrorist organizations declared as such by the UN Security Council, of course.” He added.

Manar/Mazen

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