MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Syrian president’s Political and Media Adviser Bouthaina Shaaban have discussed the outcome of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"During the meeting, also attended by Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad, the parties discussed the situation in Syria and the entire region, focusing on the need to find an early solution based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 [dated December 18, 2015, which clarifies the principles for resolving the Syrian crisis - TASS]," the statement reads. "In this connection, there was a thorough exchange of views concerning the outcome of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in Sochi on January 30, as well as ways to implement its decisions," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

Sochi Syrian Congress

Participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in late January, adopted a 12-point statement outlining their positions on their country’s future. The document stipulates that Syria should maintain its sovereignty and territorial integrity, at the same time pointing out that the Syrian people hold the prerogative to determine the country’s future through elections

The Syrians also requested United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to assist them in setting up a constitutional commission, the mandate of which will be specified at the Geneva talks.

According to the organizers, the Sochi Syrian Congress brought together 1,511 delegates representing all strata of Syrian society. Most of the participants (94.5%) were Arabs but there were also Kurds, Yazidis, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Chechens, Dagestanis, Abkhazians, Turkomans and the Druze. Key regional and global players had been invited to attend the event as observers.