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Conflict in Syria

Syria’s UN envoy deems Western initiative on Syria as 'totally unacceptable'

According to Jaafari, the meeting in Washington and its results are "tantamount to a black comedy, in which we live in new chapter of conspiracy against Syria"

VIENNA, January 26. /TASS/. The proposals for a settlement in Syria developed by a group of five nations (the United States, the UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Jordan) at a meeting in Washington on January 12 are totally unacceptable, head of the Damascus delegation at the intra-Syrian talks and Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar Jaafari said on Friday summing up the results of the meeting in Vienna.

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"This document is totally unacceptable and is not even worthy of the ink it is written with," he said.

"We believe that this failed attempt is aimed at undermining the Geneva talks and the congress in Sochi, the political process and efforts to establish peace in Syria," Jaafari added.

According to Jaafari, the meeting in Washington and the unofficial document prepared at it are "tantamount to a black comedy, in which we live in new chapter of conspiracy against Syria."

The head of the Damascus delegation added it was no coincidence that the contents of this unofficial document became known during the intra-Syrian talks in Vienna.

Plan suggested by the "group of five"

A group of five nations prepared an unofficial document on resolving the Syrian crisis at a meeting in Washington on January 12. Its text has not been made public, but the Al Mayadeen TV channel reported on Friday citing its own sources that it focuses, in particular, on turning Syria into a parliamentary and presidential republic, decentralization in the country and carrying out reforms and post-war reconstruction processes under external control. According to the TV network, the plan has been presented to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier said there is no clarity in terms of the goals and effectiveness of the meeting on Syria held by the US, the UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Jordan on January 12. "For us, the chief criterion of such meetings is effectiveness and results. We do not know what added value this meeting in Washington had," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. "Most importantly, what its goals were is not clear either.".

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