Lavrov Urges Unity among Syrian Opposition Groups

Local Editor

Uniting Syria's opposition forces for dialogue with the country's government is one of the most important prerequisites for solving the Syrian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

"One of the most important prerequisites for solving the crisis is to unite a wide spectrum of Syrian opposition forces on a constructive dialogue platform with the government on all the current key issues," Lavrov said at a meeting with members of the Syrian opposition, RIA Novosti reported.

The top Russian diplomat said that Russia firmly supports Syria's sovereignty and unity and believes in the Syrian people's ability to decide their fate and to solve problems which their country is facing.

Syria had been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fuelled by Takfiri groups had so far claimed the lives of over 230,000 people, according to reports.

Furthermore, Russia had been engaged in international efforts to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict in Syria, and had provided humanitarian aid to the people of the conflict-torn country.

Nonetheless, Moscow hosted two rounds of talks between the Syrian opposition and government in 2015. During the April round of talks in Moscow, the sides to the Syria conflict agreed on an agenda defining a framework for negotiations to end the crisis.

In July, Moscow expressed its willingness to host the third round of intra-Syrian peace talks. The date of the new round of consultations has not been set yet.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team