MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. One cannot expect the resumption of the intra-Syrian negotiations before the events at the UN Security Council scheduled for late September, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters on Wednesday.
"A series of events on the Syrian issue is planned at the UN Security Council in September, first and foremost, a special Security Council meeting scheduled for September 21," Gatilov said. "There will be a number of other contacts in New York. After these events it will be more realistic to talk about the dates of the intra-Syrian talks."
The diplomat has also pointed out that the resumption of the intra-Syrian negotiations would depend on the outcome of the Russian-US contacts.
"Russian-US diplomatic contacts are currently underway. The possibility to achieve a positive outcome of these talks will largely help Mr. de Mistura to make a decision on the next round of the intra-Syrian negotiations," Gatilov said.
Gatilov did not rule out the participation of UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in the upcoming talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.
"There is no specific date yet, but it cannot be ruled out that the meeting may take place any time soon," he said.
Gatilov noted that de Mistura’s participation in it "has not been discussed yet." "If he is in Geneva, he will probably join (the talks) at some stage," the diplomat said.
A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department earlier said that work is underway on a meeting between the Russian and US top diplomats to discuss the Syrian issue.
Lavrov and Kerry held brief talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in China’s Hangzhou on September 4-5. Efforts to hammer out an agreement on coordination in the fight against terrorists in Syria topped the agenda of the meeting.