Lavrov Calls for Implementing UN Resolution on Syria

MOSCOW- All Moscow’s efforts are aimed at implementing the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2254 on the Syrian settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the meeting with UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

“Many events occur, which at first glance develop simultaneously, but which should definitely have a single goal of meeting the conditions and those tasks that are set in the UN Security Council’s resolution,” Lavrov said.

“All our steps taken by Russia in contact with many foreign players and certainly, the UN, over the past months and also a couple of years are aimed directly at this,” he said, according to Itar Tass.

 According to Lavrov, Moscow values the chance to synchronize watches with the UN envoy on the Syrian issue. “We are thankful to you personally and your entire team, the UN Secretary-General, that you backed the Astana process, aimed at breaking the deadlock in the Syrian settlement, after our US partners failed to implement the agreements on separating the opposition from terrorists reached in September 2016.”

“All our efforts are aimed at promoting a truly inclusive inter-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the criteria agreed on by the UN Security Council under the organization’s auspices,” he said. “We are confident that the National Dialogue Congress can be an important step towards launching this dialogue, which is not overburdened by artificial demands by certain opposition factions, which are out of tune with the UN criteria. This idea was supported by the Russian, Iranian and Turkish presidents.”

According to Lavrov, “the statement made by the three countries’ leaders on November 22 in Sochi was published as a UN Security Council document and echoes the key provisions of the Russian-US top-level statement adopted in Da Nang.” “The documents emphasize the priority of UN Security Resolution 2254,” Lavrov added.

H.M