TEHRAN, July 19. /TASS/. The issue of relocating the Syrian Constitutional Committee from Geneva will be discussed at a meeting of the Astana Troika presidents (Russia, Iran, Turkey) on July 19 in Tehran, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS on Tuesday.
"I think today is a good opportunity to discuss this issue with our Turkish and Iranian partners," he said.
"The Constitutional Committee was born in Sochi, and [in this regard] everything depends on the mood of our Syrian friends and partners, the Syrian government delegation, the opposition delegation, the civil society delegation," the deputy minister said. The representatives of the pro-governmental part of the delegation, Bogdanov said, did not want to go to Geneva without Russia, while "Russia is not comfortable going there because the Swiss authorities have taken a not very friendly stance towards Russia and have lost their neutral status." "For us, this workspace has become uncomfortable," the senior diplomat added.
When asked whether Russia's Sochi could be an alternative to Geneva, Bogdanov said it would depend on the decision of committee participants. "There are contacts with UN representatives in Damascus right now. I hope that some kind of compromise on holding further meetings will be found in the near future," the Russian deputy foreign minister said, "We want these meetings to take place regularly. The sooner the Syrians themselves and UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen agree on a place convenient for everyone, the better, because this is a very important direction."
"We hope that the work will continue and the next meeting of the Constitutional Committee or even the drafting committee of the Constitutional Committee will take place as soon as possible, all that is left is to determine the place," he concluded.