KURGAN, February 15. /TASS/. The only condition for launching peace talks on settling the crisis in Syria is the cessation of combat actions, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, said on Monday.
"Russia is doing everything for its part so that the agreements [on ceasefire] are fulfilled and peace is reached on the Syrian soil as soon as possible. As this is the only condition for launching peace talks for settlement in Syria," Matviyenko said.
Matviyenko has voiced hope that as soon as the combat actions are halted in Syria the talks will begin "involving the authorities, the opposition and various groups of political leverage" in Syria. This will allow launching political reforms in the war-torn country, she added.
The upper house speaker has underlined the importance of serious agreements reached at the Munich security conference last week on the need to stop bloodshed in Syria saying that this is "a positive signal."
The senator reminded that Russia was the first country that called for ending combat actions to launch settlement in Syria. Moscow’s proposals were discussed at the meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the Munich conference.
Matviyenko noted that "the will of all the parties concerned is needed now so that these agreements are supported by all the participants indeed and actively." The agreements should be also backed by those who have influence on various opposition groups in Syria, she added.