PARIS, March 4. /TASS/. There are no links between the ceasefire regime and the start of intra-Syrian talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"There are no links between the regime of cessation of hostilities and the start of [intra-Syrian] talks. All these processes should develop in parallel, in a stable way and at an increasing speed," Lavrov said.
"The ceasefire regime, approved by the UN Security Council on the basis of a joint initiative of Russia and the United States following agreements between presidents [Vladimir] Putin and [Barack] Obama, is not limited in time," he said.
Lavrov said there were attempts to "present it like the regime was imposed for two weeks." "It’s a distortion, the ceasefire regime has no timeframes, there are no links with anything," he said.
"The ceasefire regime, humanitarian aid delivery, promotion of the political process that should cover all Syrian sides of the government and opposition - all these are part of the strategy approved by the UN Security Council," the Russian foreign minister said.
"There may be no preliminary links or conditions," he said.
"We proceed from what the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura told us," Lavrov said. "He confirmed that he is convening on March 9 in Geneva a meeting of the Syrian sides that will open the way for talks."
"This will be a process involving several groups of the Syrian opposition, and there will be contacts between the UN, various oppositionists and the government delegation. I hope they will later meet in one room," he said.