WASHINGTON, January 3 (Itar-Tass) —— A new round of talks on Syria in the format U.S.-Russia-Brahimi might be held in mid-January, spokesperson of the United States Department of State Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday.
“As you know, we said before Christmas we expected another rounds of those consultations”(the so-called three Bs conversation, the dialogue between U.N./LAS special envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, and U.S. Deputy Secretary William Burns), she said. We’re now working to schedule something sometime in the middle of January.”
However she did not say when exactly such a meeting would take place. “We’re still working on that. As you may know, it’s holiday period now in Russia. They have the New Year’s and then the Orthodox Christmas,” the spokesperson said.
“Obviously, we continue to want to see the Russians use any leverage that they have to convince (Syrian President Bashar) Assad that it is time for him to allow a transition to move forward and to get out of the way for that,” she noted.
She once again reiterated the United States’ position on Assad being part of the transitional government or process. “We’ve been clear for more than a year: Assad has to go. We don’t see any role for him in a transition. That has not changed,” she said.
The first three Bs meeting on Syria was held in Geneva in early December.