Lavrov: Boosting Arms Transfer to Syrian Opposition Hinders Int’l Conference on Syria

Local Editor

In a joint press conference with his Moroccan counterpart Saad-Eddine al-Othmani in Moscow on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "boosting sending arms to the Syrian opposition hinders the international conference on Syria and violates all international resolutions."

"Russia is committed to arranging a peace conference on the Syria conflict but other countries and groups are complicating matters by trying to set preconditions," Lavrov said.

Lavrov, who will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry next week to discuss the planned conference, also said shipments of weapons to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "contradict the concept of the conference".

"The opposition, which is supported by the West and other countries in the region, announced they are not going to the conference as long as the regime doesn't agree to capitulate," he added.

He underlined that it was agreed that the participants of the peace conference would not be allowed to set any preconditions.

Moreover, Lavrov dismissed news on the closure of the Russian embassy in Damascus as "baseless", stressing that the embassy still exercises its missions.

For his part, the Moroccan Foreign Minister stressed the necessity of preserving Syria's unity and not interference of foreign sides in addition to supporting all political solution that would lead to the cessation of violence.

No date has been set for the conference yet.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team