Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Related Articles
Beijing, SANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country affirms terrorism should be combated in accordance with the international law.
“Russia doesn’t see legal reasons not to cooperate with the Syrian Government in combating terrorism,” Lavrov said in a statement to the press following his meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry on the sidelines of a meeting for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing .
He criticized as “unilateral” the US method in dealing with the issue of combating terrorism, adding the US sees that the coalition should work without the approval of the UN Security Council or the Syrian government.
Russia has repeatedly stressed that the international coalition’s airstrikes against the terrorist organizations in Syria should be based on the approval of Syrian government within the frame of an international consensus.
In a relevant context, Lavrov said he discussed with Kerry the need of resuming the political process between the Syrian government and the “opposition”.
He noted that the US Secretary of State has agreed on the Russian proposal which says that the “Syrian opposition” must in all cases represent the various groups and not just the “coalition”.
Lavrov reiterated the need for coming to have a representative “opposition”, pointing out that the “coalition” comprises people who left Syria long time ago and had not been to it since then, while there are opposition factions inside Syria that cannot be excluded.
The Russian Foreign Minister went on saying that his talks with Kerry also touched upon the steps which could be taken by Russia, the US and the countries of the region towards holding a national dialogue among the Syrians in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué of June 30 , 2012.
H. Zain/Mazen/H. Said
