MOSCOW, November 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov does not rule out that representatives of several armed Syrian groups may be included in a delegation at a peace conference Geneva-2.
“Lakhdar Brahimi (joint special envoy of the United Nations Organization and the League of Arab States on Syria) confirmed once again that he intends to go on another trip in the region, including Damascus, to hold another round of consultations and tell us on December 20 about his impressions and any progress in the plan to settle the problem in the format of representing the opposition at the conference Geneva-2,” the Russian deputy foreign minister said in an interview with the TV channel Russia Today in the Arabic language. “Certainly, at the same time with him our U.S. partners are working, including former U.S. ambassador in Damascus Robert Ford, who deal with this issue,” he said.
“Moreover, our U.S. partners have expanded the contacts thanks to meetings and talks with representatives of different armed groups, not only the Syrian free army, but also other armed groups, which are participating in combat actions and from the position of which it depends whether the gunfire and bloodshed will stop or not. Naturally, the terrorist organizations connected with Al-Qaeda, Jebhat an-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant are not in question, as there is no hope to communicate with them,” Bogdanov noted. “But some armed groups probably may meet a very insistent appeal to stop the gunfire and help put the whole forcible confrontation on the track of political efforts,” he said.
In reply to a question whether representatives of the armed opposition will be invited to participate in Geneva-2, Bogdanov said, “I am not aware of it, now this question will be settled either.