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Russian foreign minister met with Syrian national coalition leader

The Russian foreign minister arrived in the French capital to discuss preparations for Geneva-2

PARIS, January 12, 22:49 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with the leader of Syria’s National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, Ahmad al-Jarba, in Paris on Sunday.

“I understand that you are first of all worried over the fate of your homeland,” Lavrov said. “We are not indifferent to the fate of the Syria too.”

The Russian foreign minister arrived in the French capital to discuss preparations for an international peace conference on Syria, the so-called Geneva-2. His plans include talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, United Nations and the League of Arab State special envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Jauda.

Initially, a visit of a national coalition delegation to Moscow was planned for January 13-14, but in the long run the meeting was organized in Paris.

Also on Sunday, or ten days before an international peace conference on Syria, the French capital hosted a meeting of foreign ministers of the so-called Friends of Syria Group, an alliance of 11 Western and Gulf Arab countries. The meeting was attended by Ahmad al-Jarba and Badr Jamous, the secretary general of the Syrian National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.