Lavrov: Russia will continue to pursue political efforts to resolve crisis in Syria

Moscow, SANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Russia’s commitment to pursuing political efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, saying that the agreements reached during the Moscow meetings between the Syrian government and opposition groups form the basis of Russia’s efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.

During a joint press conference with Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on Monday, Lavrov said that Russia calls for avoiding the mistakes of the past which included limiting the representation of the opposition to a single entity under the name of the “coalition” which doesn’t represent all opposition groups.

He stressed that Russia will use the results achieved during the Moscow meetings to support the talks currently being held in Geneva under the supervision of UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Lavrov also stressed the need to avoid double standards when it comes to counterterrorism, and that one cannot fight terrorism in one state and support it in another.

He noted that Al Qaeda’s terrorist activities are increasing in parallel with the ongoing airstrikes on Yemen, voicing concern over the escalation of terrorism following the spread of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and its emergence in other states like Lebanon and Libya.

Hazem Sabbagh

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