Russian Deputy FM: Venue, Date of Vienna-Format Syria Talks Unconfirmed

Local Editor

The venue and the exact date of the next international meeting on Syria have not been confirmed so far, as a coordinated list of Syrian opposition representatives to participate in talks with Damascus has not been finalized, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday.

On Wednesday, US State Secretary John Kerry announced that the next meeting of world powers on Syria would take place in New York City on December 18.

"With regard to the December 18 meeting, in order to determine not only the date but also the venue of the meeting in a Vienna format, one should first agree on the full list of participants, who is a terrorist and who is not, who to negotiate with... That's the main condition," Ryabkov stated.

During the last Vienna meeting, international mediators agreed to hold negotiations on the settlement of the Syrian crisis by January 1, 2016. The participating states set a six-month timeframe for Syria to form an interim unity government, while stipulating that elections in Syria should be held within 18 months.

On December 3, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a sustainable solution to the conflict in Syria was impossible without an agreed list of the terrorist organizations operating in the country.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry had not yet confirmed US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Moscow next week.

"I have not been informed of anything on this topic. So far there's no news," Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RIA Novosti when asked whether Kerry would make an official visit next week.

Earlier media reports surfaced saying that Kerry had announced plans to visit Russia next week to hold talks on Syria and Ukraine. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Kerry's visit to Moscow was still in the planning stage.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team