Lavrov: Nobody Will Hold Dialogue with Terrorists, Extremists in Syria

MOSCOW- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed that nobody wants to hold dialogue with extremists and terrorists in Syria, calling for unifying all efforts to confront extremist forces. 

Interviewed by Interfax news agency, Lavrov suggested that the “Syrian government and “opposition” combine forces to fight “terrorists and extremists”, according to the Voice of Russia.

“We realize that it will be quite difficult to achieve peace in Syria because, besides the parties to the Syrian conflict whose representatives will sit down at the negotiating table (during an international conference on Syria set for January 22), those fighting in that country include terrorists and extremists, with whom nobody is going to hold any dialogue. Moreover, it is essential to work for the government and opposition to combine efforts in taking action against the extremist forces in Syria,” Lavrov said.

“I think it needn’t be explained that, in trying to settle the Syrian crisis, in dealing with other key international problems, and in building global stability, much depends on whether Russia and the United States are ready to work together,” he said

 Lavrov also said that Moscow expects US President Barack Obama to take part in a planned summit in Sochi, Russia, in June 2014 of the Group of Eight.

“We are open to the sustained development of cooperation with the United States on the basis of respect for each other’s interests and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. A Russian-American summit is on the agenda. At the moment, it’s hard to tell when and where it will take place. There are opportunities for contacts between the presidents on the sidelines of some international forums. We expect Obama to come to the G8 summit in Sochi on June 4-5, 2014,” Lavrov said.

H. Mustafa