Russia urges concession on Syria conflict sides

Russia has urged both the Syrian government and opposition to reconsider their positions toward the resolution of the country’s crisis.

Both the opposition and the Syrian government should be ready to make concessions, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday in Moscow as he opened discussions with the fractured opposition involved in the Syrian conflict.

He explained that ‘compromise is the only way to save Syria.’

The Russian foreign minister urged all sides to join forces to combat “the powers which would like to: diminish the dignity of the people, split and undercut the unity of the country, and ignore the risks of spreading extremism and international terrorism.”

Syrian government representatives and opposition parties have begun negotiations in the Russian capital, Moscow, in a bid to resume long-stalled peace talks.

Six members of the Syrian government have met with 32 members of various opposition groups in an attempt to stop the nearly four years of conflict in the country.

The Russian top diplomat said the Syrian crisis should be “resolved by Syrians themselves” and asserted that Moscow’s position on the Syrian conflict has remained “consistent.”

The last round of talks between a Syrian government delegation and the opposition was mediated by the United Nations and held in the Swiss city of Geneva in February last year. The talks came to an end without any tangible results.

Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fuelled by Takfiri groups has so far claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, according to reports. New figures show that over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, lost their lives in Syria last year.

 

PRESS TV