Lavrov and Muallem meet in Russia to discuss Syria crisis

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss the crisis in Syria with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in a meeting on Wednesday in the Russian resort city of Sochi on the Black Sea.

Anadolu news agency quoted a statement of the Russian foreign ministry as saying that: “The Jihadists have set up a state across wide areas in Syria and Iraq. They are forcefully and inhumanely trying to impose their sovereignty. Their deeds do not belong to Islam.”

The ministry also stated that the threat from the Jihadists, including the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front, is increasing every day. “Moscow believes this is the time to prioritise the mission of facing terrorism and extremism, which threatens the Middle East,” the statement warned.

Regarding the current efforts to confront terrorism, the statement said that Syria is playing a major role in this area and doubted that any efforts, including those made by the US, would achieve positive results in fighting the terrorists without cooperation with the Syrian regime.

Furthermore, Anadolu news agency added that Russia maintained that all efforts would be “ineffective” without adhering to the principles of international law, “especially in regards to respecting the sovereignty of other states and the non-interference in their internal affairs.”

The statement highlighted the importance of resuming the political efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis: “With respect to all [military] efforts being exerted to fight terrorism, the political efforts aimed at solving the crisis are not less important than those efforts.”

Moscow also reiterated that it is ready to meet the necessary conditions for political talks to take place between all sides involved in the Syrian crisis, noting its support for the efforts of the UN’s Special Envoy for the Syrian Crisis, Staffan de Mistura.

According to the statement, Moscow thinks that Mistura’s proposals for solving the crisis could lead to local reconciliations and gradual development towards resolving the crisis in Syria.