Far-reaching conclusions about Syrian opposition meeting in Doha premature - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Russia has been closely following the current meeting of Syrian opposition representatives in Doha (Qatar), the Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters on Thursday.
"The event has brought together a wide spectrum of opposition groups, though not the entire Syrian opposition. Clearly, it is far from over, so we are not drawing premature conclusions," he said, adding that the results had yet to be analyzed.
"The main assessment criterion for this and other similar meetings should be the participants' readiness to unite on a platform for resolving the Syrian crisis peacefully by Syrians themselves without outside interference, through dialogue and negotiations," the diplomat said.
"Russia's position in favor of this algorithm of handling the internal conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic was made precisely clear by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his latest tour of the Middle East as well as during his contacts with a number of local leaders and a wide range of Syrian opposition figures."
The diplomat stressed that Moscow would continue to work actively both with the Syrian government and all opposition forces in a bid to promote a speedy solution to the crisis.
