Lavrov, de Mistura stress support to Astana meeting as factor of speeding up political process in Syria during Geneva talks

Moscow, SANA- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura stressed support to Astana meeting on the crisis in Syria as a factor which may contribute to speeding up the political process in Syria through Geneva talks.

During his meeting with De Mistura in Moscow on Thursday, Lavrov said that ” Russia insists on joining representatives of the moderate opposition in Geneva talks,” reiterating Moscow’s commitment to continue efforts to extend the cessation of
hostilities agreement to include all the Syrian territories.

De Mistura, in turn, stressed that the Astana meeting will contribute to speeding up the political process in Syria, affirming the UN support to the efforts of Russia, Iran and Turkey in the context of the political settlement in Syria.

The UN diplomat also stated that the delegates would start arriving in Geneva on February 20 to hold bilateral meetings with the UN side prior to launching the official talks, emphasizing the need for doubling efforts to promote the political process in Syria.

He pointed out that the UN Security Council resolution No. 2254 is the only document that determines outlets of settling the crisis in Syria.

H. Zain/ Ghossoun

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