Rompuy: No Alternative to Political Solution to Crisis in Syria

MOSCOW-  European Council President Herman Van Rompuy reaffirmed the absence of any alternative to a political solution to the crisis in Syria in his speech at the opening of the Russia-EU summit in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday.

The European Union will further enhance its cooperation with Russia on the Syrian issue, Van Rompuy said, welcoming the planned international conference on Syria in Geneva.

The approaches of Russia and the EU to the situation in Afghanistan and North Korea are similar, he said.

Both sides have moved far forward in their negotiations on a new cooperation and partnership agreement, Van Rompuy said, describing this progress as a reliable foundation for promoting bilateral ties further.

Van Rompuy also supported cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Commission, which, he said, the EU has recognized.

On Monday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the EU’s Chairman Herman Van Rompuy, the European Commission’s head Jose Manuel Barroso and the EU’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton gathered in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg to discuss the situation around Syria and the state of affairs in the world’s economy.

H. Mustafa