President Bashar al-Assad stressed that Syria is willing to work towards Russia’s efforts for holding a second round of inter-Syrian talks in Moscow.
The Russian capital hosted a round of talks bringing together representatives of the Syrian government and opposition figures and parties on January 26-29, earlier this year.
The discussions were held in the framework of consultations to prepare for a Syrian-Syrian dialogue to solve the country’s crisis. The meeting resulted in the Syrian government delegation and a number of representatives from the opposition agreeing to a set of guidelines proposed by Russia.
The guidelines, named the “Moscow principles”, stressed on maintaining Syria’s sovereignty and unity, fighting terrorism, settling the crisis peacefully and politically and rejecting any foreign interference.
The Russian efforts were discussed in a meeting between President Assad and Russia’s Special Envoy, Azmatullah Kolmohammadov, and an accompanying delegation on Sunday, highlighting the need to continue coordination and consultation between Moscow and Damascus.
The most important step towards achieving that end, the president said, is to agree on an agenda that specifies the working method, the principles on which dialogue should be based and the mechanisms that guarantee reaching the aims of the dialogue.
President Assad stressed that the government and the people of Syria trust the Russian leadership and believe in its relentless efforts to find a solution to the crisis.
Assad referred to the obstacles put in the path of reaching such a solution by some regional and Western countries, noting that chief among those obstructions is having those same countries continuing their support – in all forms – to the terrorist organizations.
The Russian envoy held the Syrian government’s openness to the political initiatives in Syria in high regard, hailing the steps the government has taken to help these initiatives succeed, including local reconciliations.
This affirms that the Syrian leadership is keen to stop the bloodshed in its country by all possible means, Kolmohammadov said.
