Alwaght- Russia has opposed Turkey's demand to keep a leading Kurdish group out of Syria's peace talks, and said it expects the U.N. envoy to resist "blackmail" by Turkey and others.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that the Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, plays an important role in fighting the ISIS terrorist group and is an essential part of political settlement in Syria.
Turkey sees the PYD and its YPG militia group as branches of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a Kurdish resistance group fighting for autonomy.
Lavrov warned that it would be a "grave mistake" not to invite the PYD. "How can you talk about political reforms in Syria if you ignore a leading Kurdish party," he said, adding that the Kurds account for 15 percent of the population.
Lavrov also rejected allegations that Moscow had offered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and could offer him a political asylum.
Lavrov also warned against Saudi Arabia's proposal to invite only opposition groups which it hosted at a meeting last month, saying the Syrian peace process should also include other opposition representatives, like those which met for talks in Moscow last year.