Lavrov: Only the Syrian People Themselves Can Decide Their Future

MOSCOW- Syrian settlement can be only peaceful, and only the Syrian people themselves can decide their future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Monday, Itar Tass reported.

“We exchanged opinions on the situation in the Middle East and in North Africa,” Lavrov said. “Special attention was paid to effort towards contribution to the Syrian settlement, that can be only peaceful and can be achieved only on the basis on negotiations between the Syrian parties without interference from outside,” Lavrov said.

Russia rejects any preliminary agreements that say that President Bashar Al-Assad will have to leave his post, Russian Foreign Minister said.

“Several of our partners think that they need to agree beforehand that President Assad will leave his post after a transitional period. Russia does not accept this position,” Lavrov said.

On his part, Zarif said that only the Syrians can decide the future of their country and all other countries should help achieve this.

He hoped that cooperation between Russia and Iran will be deepened after the embargo on Iran was lifted. He pointed out that Iran’s dialogue with Russia will continue as to solve all the problems in the region.

H.M