De Mistura, Lavrov meet in Russia ahead of Syria talks

Next round of Syria talks between delegations from regime, opposition due to start Thursday in Geneva

By Elena Teslova and Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura met Wednesday in Moscow ahead of Syria peace talks in Geneva on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

De Mistura noted the need for political progress in the war-torn country, saying he arrived in Moscow to assess the situation, according to the ministry's statement.

The UN envoy is later scheduled to travel to Turkish capital Ankara, before departing for Geneva.

Lavrov, for his part, said Russia "valued" the meeting with de Mistura after the third round of intra-Syria talks, which was held in the Kazakhstan's capital, Astana on March 15 and before Thursday's Geneva talks.

"We believe that we should help you consolidate the agreements on four baskets of issues: the transitional government, the constitution, the elections and the fight against terrorism," Lavrov said.

The delegates for the Syrian regime, headed by Bashar al-Ja’aafari, and representatives of the opposition, led by Nasr Hariri from the High Negotiations Committee are expected to attend the talks in the Swiss capital.

Kaynak:

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