Alwaght- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Thursday that there are parties trying to obstruct the settlement process for the crisis in Syria.
There are a number of factors through which some sides try to exploit to obstruct the settlement political process for the crisis in Syria,” Lavrov said during a meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, in the presence of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.
The top Russian diplomat added that the efforts exerted by Russia, whether in Geneva talks or at Astana meetings, during which they reached the de-escalation zones’ agreement and the invitation to hold Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, were directed to implement UN Security Council resolution no. 2254 which calls for creating suitable conditions to hold Syrian-Syrian dialogue under the supervision of the UN.
For his part, De Mistura said that following the defeat of ISIS terrorist group in Syria, time has come for the political process to resolve the crisis in Syria, hailing the meetings that were held lately in Sochi and their role in pushing the political process forwards.
Shoygu, on his part, affirmed that the situation in Syria has changed and “we notice that hundreds of families are returning to their homes daily, adding that during only a week, more than 4,500 displaced persons went back home in Deir Ez-Zor, al-Bukamal and Palmyra.
Last week, Syria's chief negotiator blamed Western countries and Saudi Arabia for the failure of the last round of negotiations to restore peace in the country.
Bashar al-Jaafari said the Syrian opposition - supported by Saudi Arabia - was setting a pre-condition of the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as part of discussions.
“The operators of the other parties; I mean, the Saudi authorities and their Western operators do not want Geneva process to succeed…Syria as a state won’t accept any terrorist blackmail that would influence the political course of the Geneva talks,” al-Jaafari noted.s
The previous rounds of negotiations under the auspices of the UN over the past five years have failed to achieve tangible results, mainly due to the Saudi-backed opposition’s insistence that the elected Syrian government cede power.
