Russian MPs arrive in Syria ahead of Geneva II

BEIRUT- A delegation of Russian MPs arrived in Syria on Saturday, January 18, ahead of the international conference Geneva II convened in a bid to end the crisis in this country.

 “The purpose of our visit ahead of this important international event is to help strengthen Russia’s positions in the peaceful settlement of the crisis in Syria,” Alexander Yushchenko, a member of the Energy Committee in the State Duma, lower house of the Russian parliament, told ITAR-TASS.

The delegation is on its way to Damascus, accompanied by members of Syrian public and religious organizations. In the evening, the delegation is scheduled to meet with the leadership of the Syrian parliament.

Contemporaneously with the visit, Russia will deliver humanitarian aid to Syria on Sunday, January 19.

Russia has played a key role in organizing the peace conference, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said.

In his opinion, Russian diplomats “deserve the main credit for getting the Syrian parties’ consent to attend the conference.”

 “We are going to Geneva with one condition only: we want the dialogue to succeed,” the diplomat said.

The date of the conference was announced in November 2013 and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent invitations to participants on January 6, 2014.

Thirty countries are listed as external participants of Geneva II. It is not clear yet whether or not Iran will be invited.

The conference, originally scheduled to take place in Geneva, will now be held in two parts, with the opening session in Montreux, and, after a day’s break, moving on January 24 to the world body’s headquarters in Geneva. The conference will bring the Syrian government and the “opposition “to a negotiating table for the first time since the crisis started in March 2011.

The talks would not be open-ended, and a time frame would be set once the negotiations started.

R.S