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Lavrov slams attempts to impose future form of government on Syrians as counterproductive

There are some external players who would prefer to decide everything for the Syrians, Russia's top diplomat warns

SINGAPORE, August 2. /TASS/. Attempts by external players to determine Syria’s future form of government are counterproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters following the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) events in Singapore on Thursday.

"There are some external players who would prefer to decide everything for the Syrians but it is the Syrian people who should rule the country, determine its form of government and write a constitution. We do not support such attempts as we consider them to be counterproductive," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.

Lavrov said that as a member of the Astana negotiation process, Russia had put forward an initiative that a Syrian constitutional committee be established, which was approved by both the Syrian government and opposition. He added that Moscow continued to assist United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in forming the committee.

"It is not easy work but we will continue to help compile a member list that the government and other members of the constitutional committee will accept," Lavrov said.