Russian Representatives, Assad Discussed Syria Constitutional Committee Launch

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Presidential Envoy Alexander Lavrentyev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the task of forming and launching the Syrian constitutional committee as soon as possible, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.

"Issues of ensuring a long-term political settlement were considered during the conversation in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian national dialogue congress and UNSC Resolution 2254. Special attention in this regard was paid to the task of promptly forming and launching the work of the constitutional committee. Post-conflict reconstruction and normalization of Syria's relations with Arab countries were also discussed," it said.

In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, commenting on UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen's upcoming visit to Moscow, that Moscow was interested to hear the UN envoy's position on the Syrian constitutional committee, meant to draft the country's new constitution.

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Since 2017 Russia has been one of the three guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria. The Russian armed forces have been providing military assistance to Damascus throughout the conflict, while also carrying out regular humanitarian operations across the war-torn country.

Moscow is now assisting Damascus in the post-war reconstruction and the return of refugees.