The US hopes to continue working with Russia to reach a settlement to the crisis in Syria, the US special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, said during a briefing broadcast from the US State Department.
"Russia has a very large influence in Syria, "he said, stressing that the US" expects to continue working with Russia to reach a settlement " in this Arab country. According to him, the US is "not seeking regime change in Syria, but seeking a change in the regime's policy."
Referring to the upcoming meeting of the Syrian constitutional committee on August 24, Jeffrey said that he would go to Geneva to meet with representatives of the Syrian opposition. "It is important to achieve a settlement of the conflict and move towards the next stage - the holding of free and fair elections, "he said, calling, in particular," a good sign " that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his recent speech mentioned the meeting of the constitutional committee. If the meeting of the committee lasted "not days, but weeks", the US special representative stressed, it would be proof that steps were being taken to resolve the conflict in Syria.
The Syrian constitutional committee was formed in accordance with a resolution adopted in January 2018 in Sochi by the Congress of the Syrian national dialogue. It included 150 people (50 delegates each from Damascus, the opposition and civil society). The first meeting of the Committee was held in Geneva on 30 October last year. The 45-person editorial group it created held two sessions in November. The second session ended on November 29 without results, as it was not possible to agree on the agenda. After that, the Committee did not meet because of the coronavirus pandemic.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS