MOSCOW, May 15. /ITAR-TASS/. The Friends of Syria Group meeting that took place in London did not meet Russia’s expectations.

A meeting of the Friends of Syria Group is not exactly what Russia expected from its Western and Arab partners, the Russian president’s special representative for the Middle East and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Thursday, May 15.

Replying to a question about the meeting of the Friends of Syria Group held in London earlier in the day, Bogdanov told ITAR-TASS, “This is not what we expected from our partners, Western and Arab, because the main political document underlying the Syrian settlement is the Geneva Communiqué.”

He stressed that this document had been born by the Action Group which includes Russia, China, Turkey, and the European Union.

“We hoped to continue implementing the Geneva Communiqué, which called for beginning and continuing the intra-Syrian talks, within the Group’s framework. Unfortunately, we lost too much time,” Bogdanov said.

He noted that the Friends of Syria Group supported only the national police which are not the only opposition body, although a large one.