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Russia set for talks with Syrian government and opposition to find peaceful solution

The Foreign Ministry stated Russia was ready to cooperate with both the government and the opposition groups to ensure Geneva 2 conference bears fruit

MOSCOW, November 26./ITAR-TASS/  - Russia is ready to continue intensive talks with the Syrian government and main opposition forces for the sake of successful conference Geneva-2, Russian Foreign Ministry announced following Monday’s meeting in Geneva on preparations for the international conference on Syria.

Along with Russian Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman and the UN and Arab League's Special Envoy in Syria Lakhdar Brahimi took part in the consultations.

The meeting decided on a date for the peace conference, January 22.

“There is a prospect the Geneva communique of June 30, 2012 will be fully realized via Syria-wide comprehensive negotiations with a view to a prompt political settlement of the Syrian crisis, with due regard for the interests of all groups of Syrian society,” the Foreign Ministry said. A number of issues remained to be resolved, such as the format of the Syrian government and opposition delegations’ participation without preconditions and the list of countries to be invited to the forum.

The Foreign Ministry added Russia was ready to cooperate with both the government and the opposition groups to ensure the upcoming conference bear fruit.

“This will significantly depend on the Syrian groups’ ability to cooperate in the face of the terrorist threat that has swept the country,” the Foreign Ministry, said adding “the peace settlement of all problems facing the Syrian society is the sole possible way of ending the three-year-long sanguinary crisis.”

The Russia-U.S.-UN consultations has concluded that preparations for the conference would be completed at the next trilateral meeting due on December 20 with the participation of all other member- states of the UN Security Council and countries bordering on Syria.