Russia Optimistic over Syria Talks

Local Editor

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday that the Syrian reconciliation talks in Geneva have made some progress and must be sustained.

"We are cautiously optimistic. The talks must be given a sustainable nature. It is excellent that the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura announced the April 11 start of the next round of talks at the end of this round. There are ideas and there is groundwork laid down on paper," Ryabkov said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.

The latest round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups opened on March 14 in Geneva and ended on March 24.

Relatively, it saw all delegations submit their settlement proposals to De Mistura, who then produced a final paper with points of convergence between the parties. The paper was submitted for delegations' approval ahead of the new round of talks expected to start around April 10.

The points included provisions for Syria becoming a unified, sovereign, democratic and non-sectarian state based on political pluralism, as well as for cooperating with other states in preventing funds and weaponry supplies to terrorists.

According to Ryabkov, the presence of Kurds is important for the talks, and the Syrian opposition's Riyadh-formed High Negotiations Committee [HNC] should adopt a more realistic stance and abandon attempts at setting pre-conditions.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team