MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The statements of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the responsibility of Russia for the delay in the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva are biased and reckless, Syrian moderate opposition figure Qadri Jamil said Wednesday.
"I would like to point out that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's statements on Russia's responsibility for the fact that the Geneva-3 talks have halted are biased and reckless," Jamil said at a press conference in Moscow.
On Friday, Ban told the Financial Times newspaper that Russian airstrikes near the Syrian city of Aleppo made it harder for UN Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to mediate talks between Damascus and opposition that started in Geneva on January 29. They were pushed back for three weeks until February 25.
On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its concern about the UN secretary-general's remarks on alleged role of Moscow in the suspension of Syrian proximity talks, saying Ban’s remarks played into the hands of Western media who had been spreading rumors about the Russian air campaign against Islamists in Syria and the toll it took on the civilian population.