Peace talks only way out of Syria deadlock – deputy PM Jamil

 The Geneva-2 Peace Conference, aimed at bringing the Syrian government and “opposition” together to seek an end to the country’s civil war, will be held on November 23-24. That’s the latest information from the Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil speaking at press conference in Moscow. The Voice of Russia correspondent Artyom Tikhomirov has more details.

Speaking at the press conference Qadri Jamil gave a rather general answer to the question if the representatives of all parties would attend the Geneva conference. He said only the line-up of the conference would include all political forces and main “opposition forces”.

After the conference Tikhomirov asked him personally about the refusal of the “Syrian National Council”, which is the largest opposition group, to take part in Geneva conference and he said they would change their mind because the current situation was a deadlock for every side of the conflict.

There is no alternative for this conference. If it is postponed again, it will be held later anyway, Jamil said.

Qadri Jamil, who also represents opposition forces, said he would definitely be at the Geneva conference and stressed that Russia’s role was to provide support and assistance to Syria in all areas. He underscored he was one of those who were very interested in peace talks, adding this would be a personal effort too.

“During today’s meeting at the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, we discussed the approximate, yet hypothetical dates of the conference,” he said.

Jamil stressed that the Geneva 2 was the only way to resolve the conflict. “Regardless of whether this conference will be held in the expected time frame, the Geneva 2 is a platform for dialogue, for mutual understanding,” he said.

If the Geneva II conference does not take place in November, it will be held the following month, he said, calling the meeting a decided matter.

M.D