All Syrian Opposition Groups Should Participate in Vienna Talks – Lavrov

© AFP 2023Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov prepares for the opening of the annual ministerial council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade on December 3, 2015
Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov prepares for the opening of the annual ministerial council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade on December 3, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Vienna talks on Syria crisis settlement should be held with the participation of all Syrian opposition groups.

British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. - Sputnik International
Vienna Talks Close Gap Between Russian, Western Political Views on Syria
BELGRADE (Sputnik) The Vienna talks on Syria crisis settlement should be held with the participation of all Syrian opposition groups, as well as a Damascus delegation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

"As far as Syria is concerned, it is pointless to count on progress achieved without the implementation of the agreements reached in Vienna on clarifying the list of terrorist organizations to be destroyed," Lavrov said.

According to the minister, "it is inadmissible to continue to divide terrorists into bad and acceptable."

"There must be a delegation of the Syrian government representatives and the whole spectrum of the patriotic opposition rejecting violence and extremism," the minister said, speaking at an Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) session in Belgrade.

A sustainable settlement in Syria is impossible without an agreed single list of terrorist organizations operating in the country, Lavrov added.

"And of course there can be no justification for attempts to derail the anti-terrorist struggle by military protection of terrorists from retaliation, as it happened in the skies over Syria on November 24 [when a Russian Su-24 bomber was downed by Turkey]," the foreign minister said.

Lavrov in his speech at the OSCE session also expressed his condolences to US State Secretary John Kerry in connection with the recent events in California, when at least 14 people died and 17 were injured in a shooting attack on a healthcare facility providing free services to people with disabilities on Wednesday.

At the first round of Vienna talks in late October, international mediators worked out a nine-point plan on ending the Syrian civil war, including a definition of national unity, the defeat of extremist groups and assistance to refugees.

During the second round of the talks, held on November 14, the mediators agreed to the upholding of the 2012 Geneva communique on reaching a political solution to the Syrian civil war. The participating states also set a six-month timeframe for Syria to form an interim unity government, while stipulating that elections in Syria should be held within 18 months.

The talks involved regional and world powers, including Russia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and the United States.

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