Syrian opposition refuses to attend Russian meeting

The Vice President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces Hisham Marwa said the coalition “will not attend a meeting called for by Moscow while its troops kill Syrian people”.

“How can we agree to participate in a meeting called for by a country which is bombing our people and which occupies our land?” he said.

In a statement released yesterday, Marwa warned of attempts by the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his two allies, Moscow and Tehran, to circumvent the Geneva agreement by claiming that “any prospective solution should only include the formation of a broad government and postponing constitutional amendments”.

“The only way to force the Assad regime to return to negotiations in accordance with the Geneva agreement is to create a balance of power through military support for the Free Syrian Army, especially because the political proposals are not serious and aim to buy time.”

On Tuesday Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Moscow would invite representatives of the Syrian government and opposition forces next week to hold a third consultative meeting in the Russian capital.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met the United Nations Secretary-General’s envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, yesterday to discuss the launching of talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups.