Lavrov: 'Those Who Appease Extremists Sabotage Syrian Political Process'

Moscow along with Washington, Istanbul and Riyadh among others, is continuing efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

ATHENS (Sputnik) — During a meeting with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Lavrov said:

"We continue efforts with the United States, with the representatives of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, [we are] looking for opportunities to resolve the [Syrian] crisis."

He added that neither Russian nor Syrian Air Forces had been bombing Aleppo over the past two weeks, however militants controlling eastern Aleppo had been using this period to replenish ammunition and attract new followers.

Lavrov also said that the resumption of the political process in Syria was being "sabotaged by those who, in fact, in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, are appeasing extremists who do not want negotiations, but simply want to overthrow the regime [of Syrian president] Bashar Assad."

Syria's civil war between government forces and a wide range of insurgents, including opposition groups and terrorists, such as Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al Sham (also known as al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra), both outlawed in Russia, has raged for some five years and has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

On September 9, Russia and the United States reached an agreement for a peace process in Syria. A ceasefire stipulated by the deal entered into force on September 12, but while it was supposed to last at least seven days for the next steps to be taken toward the Syrian settlement, it disintegrated soon.