SOCHI, January 31. /TASS/. The United States, the United Kingdom and France were represented at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi as observers, although at a low level, Russian president’s Syria settlement envoy Alexander Lavrentyev told a news conference on Tuesday.
"More than 50 observers were present at the forum. Thirty four of them were international observers, including 19 - from the United Nations, as well as from the United States, France, the United Kingdom. Regrettably, they were represented at a rather low level," he noted. "Many also wanted to attend the congress as observers but we had to say no to them bearing their role and weight in decision-making within the Syrian settlement."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that the Western partners had confined themselves to delegating junior from their embassies in Russia. "At least we offered, we are ready for dialogue in any formats and at any levels," he stressed.