The relocation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee from Geneva will be discussed at the summit of the presidents of the Astana Troika in Tehran (Russia, Turkey and Iran), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS on Tuesday.
"I think today is a good opportunity to discuss this issue with our Turkish and Iranian partners," he said.
"The Constitutional Committee was found in Sochi, and [on this issue] everything depends on the mood of our Syrian friends and partners, the Syrian government delegation, the opposition delegation, the civil society delegation," the deputy minister said. According to representatives of the pro-government part of the delegation, Bogdanov explained, they do not want to go to Geneva without Russia, while "Russia is not comfortable going there because the Swiss authorities have taken a not very friendly stance towards Russia and have lost their neutral status." "For us, this place of work has become uncomfortable," the senior diplomat added.
Asked whether Russia's Sochi could be offered as an alternative to Geneva, Bogdanov said it would depend on the decision of the committee participants. "There are contacts with UN representatives in Damascus right now. I hope that some kind of compromise on holding further meetings will be found in the near future," the Russian deputy foreign minister said. - "We want these meetings to take place regularly. The sooner the Syrians agree among themselves with the participation of the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on a place convenient for everyone, the better, because this is a very important direction."
"We hope that the work will continue and the next meeting of the Constitutional Committee or even the drafting committee of the Constitutional Committee will take place as soon as possible, all that remains is to determine the place," he concluded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg/Creative Commons 4.0
Based on materials from TASS