Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem expressed his country’s readiness to make ecery effort in order to ensure a planned international peace conference.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem expressed his country’s readiness to make ecery effort in order to ensure a planned international peace conference.
Meanwhile, his Russian counterpart slammed the foreign-backed opposition for failing to take decision on whether it will participate in Geneva 2 or not.
During a joint press conference, Moalle
m confirmed his government's plans to send a senior delegation to the Swiss lakeside city of Montreux where the long-delayed peace conference -- the first since June 2012 -- is due to begin.
Syria "will take part in Geneva II and make every effort to ensure this event is a success and meets the aspirations of the Syrian people and the direct orders of President Bashar al-Assad," said Moallem.
He added that Assad will send his representatives to Switzerland "irrespective of the situation around the participation or the non-participation of the National Coalition at this conference."
The Syrian FM also expressed his country’s readiness to swap prisoners with the insurgents.
"I informed Lavrov of our principled position in favor of an agreement to exchange those held in Syrian prisons for those taken by the other side.”
However, he did not how many prisoners such a swap would involve or when it might begin. But it would represent a concession to one of the opposition's key demands before it agreed to peace talks.
"We are ready to exchange lists and develop the necessary mechanism for accomplishing these goals," Moallem said in remarks translated from Arabic into Russian.
Meanwhile Moallem did not address the ceasefire call directly but said he had handed Lavrov "a plan concerning measures for ensuring security in Aleppo."
For his part, FM Lavrov said Moallem had informed him of Assad's readiness "to take a series of humanitarian steps" that would lead to the speedy delivery of assistance to those suffering from the 34-month civil war.
The Russian diplomat further criticized the so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC) for delaying their decision for participation in the forthcoming Geneva II talks, saying the delay is “going beyond the limits of what is reasonable.”
Lavrov stressed that “the main reason [for the delay] is internal conflicts between various coalition groups, which are supported by various external sponsors, not a desire to be better prepared for the conference.”
"This concerns specific proposals that are already being implemented concerning the delivery of humanitarian supplies to settlements in the Eastern Ghuta region and other areas, including the suburbs of Damascus and Aleppo," Lavrov added.
