Geneva conference’s decisions obligatory for all – Lavrov

The Russian foreign minister said this at a joint press conference with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh.

Next week, representatives of the Syrian opposition will come to Moscow again. The Russian authorities try to maintain contacts with both sides in the Syrian conflict, hoping that this may help to settle the conflict. Russia insists that both the Bashar Assad regime and all the Syrian opposition groups should lay down arms and start a dialogue. The plan of Kofi Annan, an envoy of the UN and the Arab League to Syria, suggests the same.

“The resolution of the Geneva conference for Syria was approved by all the participants of the conference,” Mr. Lavrov says.

“However, now, some representatives of the Syrian opposition are interpreting some points of this resolution in a way which is favorable for them. So do some Western politicians. But the Geneva resolution is formulated clearly enough. Its points rule out any ambivalent interpretations. This document is obligatory for everyone to follow.”

The Syrian issue is also being discussed in Cairo. A conference of the Syrian opposition, initiated by the Arab League, is currently under way there.

Russia is represented at this conference by its ambassador in Egypt. Russia believes that all groups of the Syrian opposition should work out a unified approach to the peaceful settlement in their country and agree who will represent them at talks with the Syrian government.

On July 6, another conference on Syria will take place in Paris. This will be a conference of the so-called “Friends of Syria,” and Russia has refused to take part in it. Russia stresses that these so-called “Syria’s friends” openly support only one side in the Syrian conflict – a group of Syrian dissidents who are located not in Syria itself, but abroad.

Russia believes that this conference of “Syria’s friends” may hardly be fruitful for a peaceful settlement in Syria. Most likely, it will only aggravate the conflict between the Syrian government and the opposition. After the Geneva conference, any other conferences on Syria are unnecessary, Russia believes.