MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova – On Tuesday, several members of the Syrian National Dialogue Committee, which includes members of various Syrian political parties, as well as civic activists, arrived in Moscow for talks. They are scheduled to meet with officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian lawmakers, before visiting the Chechen Republic to meet with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
“I believe that for the next round it makes sense to include the Syrian sides of the conflict into the negotiating process,” Tarek Ahmad said.
Ahmad said that it was understandable that the first Vienna talks, which gathered top diplomats from around 20 countries in the Austrian capital on October 30, took place without Syrian participation. Russia, the United States, Turkey as well as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran were among the participants.
“First talks on Syria in Vienna were preparatory meetings aimed at bringing together regional and world powers. The first round was more about regional issues than Syria because when Saudis for the first time sit at the same table with Iranians, they have other important matter to discuss,” he explained.
Ahmad said he was not aware whether the official government in Damascus had been invited to the talks this Saturday.
