Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said he hopes his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov will pay a visit to Damascus in the near future.
"Let me express my gratitude to Mr. Lavrov and the Russian government for their hospitality. I expect to meet my friend Lavrov in Damascus soon," he said on Thursday at a joint press conference with the Russian Minister.
Mekdad added that Russian-Syrian relations had reached a very high level, especially in political terms.
The Syrian Foreign Minister is in Moscow on a working visit. These are the first face-to-face talks between Lavrov and Mekdad since the latter took office as head of the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
Security in the World
Mekdad said the world's security remains largely due to Russia's efforts.
"Imagine if it were not for Russia in the UN Security Council, what would happen to the security of the world? Russia is doing everything it can to keep the world safe," he said.
Mekdad noted that some Western countries wanted to build the world based on their rules. "On what basis do they do that, what rules do they want to make? Rules of occupation, rules of sanctions, rules of coercive measures against peoples in order to starve those peoples? - the Minister wondered. - We see how the US has acted in recent years. They use sanctions in their policies, inhumane sanctions against the peoples of other countries".
The Minister added that Damascus is very grateful for Russia's position on the Arab republic in the UN Security Council. This position, he said, prevents some countries from using Syria "as a platform, disregarding international rules."
The work of the Constitutional Committee
Mekdad said the interference of Western countries trying to impose certain provisions of Syria's future basic law is the main danger to the work of the Constitutional Committee.
"The most dangerous thing about the work of the Constitutional Committee is the interference from outside, namely from Western countries. And the worst thing here is when they impose some formulas to become the basis of the constitution," Mekdad said.
He noted that Damascus did not expect the Constitutional Committee to finish its work quickly because there were "many contradictions between the national government and the other side." At the same time, the basis of the work of the Committee should be the national position of Syria, which is based on the principles of the country's sovereignty and the integrity of its territory. "This should be an exclusively Syrian process. We here express our gratitude to the Russian Federation and all the friendly countries that are pushing positively the work of the constitutional committee," the Syrian Minister added.
The fourth meeting of the small group of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was held in Geneva from November 30 to December 4 with the participation of representatives of the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society. The parties failed to reach concrete agreements. Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria Geir Pedersen said that the fifth session was planned for January 25.
The committee was formed in accordance with a resolution adopted on January 31, 2018, in Sochi by the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue. Its tasks include drafting a new basic law of the country or amending the current 2012 constitution.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS