Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has advised the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC, Kurdish-led) on considering dialogue with the Assad regime.
This came during a meeting with the Russian channel RT, during which he passed messages to the SDC. In addition, he reminded them of the decision of former U.S. President Donald Trump, to withdraw from Syria, and to send politicians from Kurdish forces to Moscow.
“The Americans will eventually withdraw from Syria, and the Kurds should decide their approach regarding dialogue with Damascus,” Lavrov said.
“They, particularly their political arm represented by the Democratic Union Party and the SDC, have to decide their approach,” Lavrov said.
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The Russian minister said that after Trump talked about the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, “they (SDC) immediately raised demands to Russia, especially to help them launch a dialogue with the Government of Damascus. However, their interest in this dialogue disappeared after a few days, as the Pentagon stated that its military forces will remain in Syria.”
He said that U.S. forces will eventually withdraw, as they are “trying to impose their rules but are realistically unable to ensure the continuity of the work of these structures.”
Lavrov advised that the Kurds “take a principled position,” expressing his country’s willingness to help them.
Lavrov’s statements come against the backdrop of the failure of negotiations between SDC and the Assad regime under Russian auspices, said SDC’s Joint President, Ilham Ahmed.
“Russia’s role in trying to develop a dialogue with the Syrian government has not yet yielded results so far,” Ahmed said at a conference a few days ago.
This article was translated and 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.
