Alexander Lavrentyev, Russia’s Special Presidential Envoy to Syria, announced on Tuesday that it had set an invitation to the US to attend the Astana Conference, which has started today. Furthermore, unfortunately, we have received a decline due to our US colleagues being occupied with internal matters, and because of their indecision on an approach with regard to the Syria crisis, said Lavrentyev.
Lavrentyev has included delegations from Turkey, Iran, the Syrian government and the opposition, and the United Nations have arrived at the conference venue, Sochi, to take part in the Astana-format conference on Syria. The conference is scheduled between 16-17 February.
Meanwhile, Special Envoy Lavrentyev made further comments regarding the talks and their goal in finding a binding settlement to the decade-long conflict in Syria. Lavrentyev underlined that a special focus should be given to the crisis settlement process, while plans are also in thought to discuss Syria’s constitutional committee with UN Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen.
The Russian envoy has also made comments regarding the Syrian opposition delegation, and their importance in taking matters into their own hands with regards to the eradication of terrorist presence in the country.
