Vershinin, de Mistura Hold Meeting on Syria in Geneva

GENEVA-Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin has held a meeting with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva on Monday, a source told TASS.

“Sergei Vershinin has held a working meeting with the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. There has also been a meeting between the Russian delegation and members of the [Syrian opposition],” the source said, according to Itar Tass.

The Russian deputy foreign minister and Russian Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev are representing Moscow at the two-day consultations of the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire (Russia, Iran and Turkey) that began on Monday.

 On Tuesday, a plenary meeting is set to take place, which will also involve de Mistura. The Geneva consultations are focused on the establishment of a Syrian constitutional committee.

Participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on January 30, decided to establish a constitutional committee that will work on the country’s new constitution. The UN envoy suggested that the committee should consist of no more than 50 members, according to Tass.

Russia-Iran-Turkey Meeting on Syria ‘Very Important‘: De Mistura 

Earlier, de Mistura said the meeting in Geneva on Syria between Russia, Iran and Turkey on Monday is very important.

“I am very interested in this meeting because it is very important,” De Mistura stressed.

The countries-guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire – Russia, Iran and Turkey-are holding two-day consultations in Geneva.

H.M