Russian, US, UN diplomats to continue preparations for Syria conference in Geneva

 The next Russia-US-UN meeting will be held on Tuesday as part of efforts to lay the groundwork for the Geneva II international conference on Syria.

Deputy Foreign Ministers Gennady Gatilov and Mikhail Bogdanov will lead Russia’s delegation to the November 5 event,according to Voice of Russia, Interfax.

The US delegation will be headed by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Ambassador Robert Ford, who was recalled from Damascus in February 2012.

UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will attend the meeting as well.

Gatilov told Interfax earlier that the upcoming event would address all of the issues concerning the Geneva II conference, tentatively set for November 23, and Brahimi, for his part, might inform the other sides of the results of his recent trip to the region.

“The Russian delegation is going to Geneva with the most serious intentions,” Gatilov said. “We believe the main purpose of the meeting with our US partners and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi is to continue constructive debate on all issues relating to the organization of the future international conference on Syria,” he said.

Gatilov said that he and Bogdanov were also going to meet with members of the Syrian opposition in Geneva.

“We plan to hold a series of negotiations with representatives of the Syrian opposition on the sidelines of the consultations in Geneva. Such an agreement has already been achieved, and such contacts will take place,” he said. 

M.D