Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the new president of the so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC) is hindering attempts to hold the proposed Geneva talks, which aim to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
Ahmad Assi Jarba, the new SNC leader, said on July 7 that the foreign-backed opposition group would not attend the conference - planned by the United States and Russia - unless the militants make military advances on the ground first.
Referring to the argument by hawkish Jarba, Lavrov said on Wednesday, �If you follow this logic, we will never manage to convene any conference.�
�Our Western partners took responsibility for getting the opposition to attend the Geneva conference without preconditions,� the Russian foreign minister emphasized.

Lavrov was speaking at a news conference after a meeting with the foreign minister of Belarus.

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene a conference on Syria, which is planned to serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.

On July 6, the foreign-backed Syria opposition elected the Saudi-linked member, Jarba, as its new president during its latest meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday that Moscow has confirmed the use of chemical weapons by Takfiri militants operating inside Syria.

Foreign-sponsored militancy has taken its toll on the lives of many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, since March 2011.

By Press TV

 

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