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Conflict in Syria

Senior Russian diplomat, UN envoy hold meeting in Geneva

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin has held a meeting with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva

GENEVA, June 18. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin has held a meeting with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva on Monday, a source told TASS.

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"Sergei Vershinin has held a working meeting with the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. There has also been a meeting between the Russian delegation and members of the Syrian opposition," the source said.

The Russian deputy foreign minister and Russian Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev are representing Moscow at the two-day consultations of the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire (Russia, Iran and Turkey) that began on Monday.

On Tuesday, a plenary meeting is set to take place, which will also involve de Mistura. The Geneva consultations are focused on the establishment of a Syrian constitutional committee.

Participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on January 30, decided to establish a constitutional committee that will work on the country’s new constitution together with de Mistura. The full candidate list will comprise 150 people, including 100 representatives of the Syrian government and domestic opposition, as well as 50 members of the foreign-based opposition. The UN envoy suggested that the committee should consist of no more than 50 members.

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