BRUSSELS, April 25. /TASS/. The European Union has made a mistake refusing to invite Damascus to attend a UN-EU donor conference in Brussels, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said upon arrival at the event.

"I think that’s a drawback of this conference," he said. "I think it’s a mistake, they [Syrian representatives] should have been invited because we are talking about addressing the needs of the Syrian people, so there should be somebody representing the Syrian people," the Russian envoy added.

A two-day international donor conference on Syria, which opened in Brussels on April 24, involves representatives of more than 85 countries and organizations. The conference’s participants are expected to raise funds to provide aid to the Syrian people, particularly refugees, as well as to discuss the recent developments in the country and the current state of the political process aimed at resolving the crisis. However, Damascus hasn’t been invited, unlike various Syrian non-governmental organizations most of which are based abroad.