MOSCOW, September 9 (Itar-Tass) - Syrian President Bashar Assad is grateful to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the country’s position on the resolution in Syria, visiting Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov here on Monday.
“Assad asked to convey greetings and gratitude to Putin for his position on Syria before and after the G20 summit,” al-Moallem said.
No alternative to a peaceful resolution in Syria exists, no military solution to the problem exists, moreover, that related with an intervention, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with visiting Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem here on Monday.
“The Russian position is well-known and is not subject to any time-serving fluctuations,” the Russian minister said. “No alternative to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Syria exists, moreover, no military solution related with a foreign intervention exists,” Lavrov said.
Russia “will promote an initiative to convene a conference on Syria,” he pledged.
“We will seek for the opposition to agree on this initiative and to fulfil the Geneva communiqu· adopted on June 30, 2012,” the minister went on to say. “Today we hope to learn that you confirm your participation in the conference,” he noted.
The Russian Foreign Minister recalled about a news conference, which Russian President Vladimir Putin gave at the G20 summit, and the Russian position on the Syrian crisis that Putin had formulated. In his words, Russia will continue to support consistently the country’s position based on the Geneva communique and the statement taken at the G20 summit. Lavrov noted that the Monday meeting with the Syrian foreign minister is timely as never before.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Syria is still prepared to participate in a Geneva-2 conference.
“As for Geneva, we confirmed many times our participation in a conference without any preliminary conditions and we are prepared for it up to this moment of time,” he said. “But I do not know what may happen after a U.S. aggression. Probably a missile will be launched and will disrupt the conference,” he noted.
Damascus is convinced that “the United States does not want a conference,” the minister went on to say.
“We came at the moment of time when the drumbeat of war is heard from the US,” he noted. “We believe that Russia plays an important role in averting an aggression, this is why the Russian position is strong, because the peacekeeper is much stronger than those who want to unleash a war,” Muallem said.