Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal al-Mekdad, discussed with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, issues of common concern, along with the latest developments in Syria.
Pedersen briefed Mekdad on the recent meetings he held with officials in some states and the efforts made to resume the work of the Committee of Discussing the Constitution.
Al-Watan Newspaper cited well-informed sources as saying that Pedersen’s visit comes within the framework of his attempts to revive the path of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva and his endeavour to revive his “step-for-step approach.”
Pedersen’s endeavour to hold a new round of the Constitutional Committee “will not work in light of Russia’s insistence on holding the meetings in a new platform,” according to the sources.
COMMENT FROM THE OBSERVER
In mid-June, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said, “We outlined the need to move the further operation of the Constitutional Committee to a more neutral platform” instead of Geneva.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin noted that Geneva had become a “less neutral” platform regarding the meetings of the Constitutional Committee.
As a result of the Russian position that the Syrian government agreed on, Pedersen cancelled the 9th round of the meetings that had been scheduled to be held on July 25th.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
