MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. The Syrian-led Constitutional Committee may convene a meeting after an 18-month hiatus as early as next month, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told TASS in an interview.
While the venue for a potential meeting may be chosen "by mid-or late-February," some more time will be needed to sort things out with the logistics, the Russian envoy said. "Solving logistics issues with accommodation and hosting [of events] usually takes two to three weeks, so I think that we can expect [it to take place in] March," he specified.
Now that Oman has dropped out of the race to host the meeting, alternative venues are currently being considered, according to Lavrentyev. "I think this issue will be resolved really soon, maybe within the next month or so. The new venue will hopefully be chosen and coordinated directly with [United Nations] Special Envoy [for Syria] Geir Pedersen," he said, adding that Damascus was currently weighing the most acceptable options.
The Russian special presidential envoy earlier announced that Pedersen may visit the Syrian capital in the latter half of February. "The Syrian side is ready to receive him and discuss all issues related to holding a meeting of the Constitutional Committee," Lavrentyev said. "We think the time is ripe for holding more meetings," he maintained as he dismissed recent allegations that the process has been delayed because of Russia or Syria.
The Constitutional Committee last convened a meeting that yielded practically no results in May 2022. Another session was scheduled for January 2023, but it never took place. While Geneva previously hosted committee meetings, Russia has repeatedly insisted that Switzerland has lost the status of a neutral venue, including due to issues stemming from snags in the process of issuing visas to delegates.