All news

Lavrov warns Syria’s plight will drag on if efforts to divide it continue

"Tackling any problems, including those we see in the Middle East and Northern Africa, will be possible only on the inclusive basis," Russia's top diplomat said

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. The problem of Syria will stay unresolved if the approaches splitting the country along religious lines continue to be pushed ahead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Tackling any problems, including those we see in the Middle East and Northern Africa, will be possible only on the inclusive basis," Lavrov said. "This implies the need for all ethnic, religious and political forces of any country concerned, be it Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Libya, to participate in each particular case. It also applies to the need for the involvement of all external actors who one way or another influence the situation in the field."

"The problems of Syria will not be resolved, if the approaches that split, and not unite, continue to be pushed ahead with. The more so, if they split along confessional lines, inside the movements that exist in Islam, which is a world religion," he said.