Moscow, SANA -UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura highly valued the consultative inter-Syrian meeting which Russia hosted late last month, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
A delegation of the Syrian government and opposition figures came together in consultations that were held in the Russian capital Moscow between 26th and 29th of January.
The meeting ended up with the government delegation and five opposition parties and other figures approving a set of Russia-presented guidelines that were called “Moscow Principles”, which stressed on preserving Syria’s sovereignty, combating terrorism, rejecting foreign interference and solving the crisis in Syria politically.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said de Mistura’s remarks on the Moscow meeting came during his meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference being held in Germany.
The Ministry’s statement noted that Lavrov and de Mistura discussed means to put into force the latter’s proposed plan on freezing fighting in Syrian areas through making local reconciliations.
Lavrov and the UN envoy also discussed the need for having efforts unified to the effect of combating terrorism in the region, according to the statement.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Lavrov was going to discuss the outcomes of the Moscow consultative meeting rounds de Mistura.
Gatilov said in a statement that the two sides would also discuss de Mistura initiative to freeze fighting in Aleppo with the aim of alleviating the humanitarian situation.
Lavrov, Salam affirm support for political settlement in Syria
On a relevant note, Lavrov and Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam affirmed their support for a political and diplomatic settlement in Syria without preconditions or foreign interference.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said after a meeting between Lavrov and Salam on Saturday on the sideline of the Munich Security Conference that the Lebanese side praised Russia’s constructive efforts for finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria by organizing inter-Syrian communication in Moscow.
During the meeting, Lavrov asserted that Russia supports Lebanon’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity and is against interference in its internal affairs.
English Bulletin/Barry