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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov considered on Wednesday the so-called “Friends of Syria” grouping which joins Western and Arab countries that oppose the rule of President Bashar Al-Assad undermined dialogue.
“Right now we see this process is making a negative contribution to the (Geneva) decisions”, Lavrov told reporters in Istanbul.
“When one party is isolated in any mechanism set up to deal with a conflict, we miss the ground for dialogue”, he said.
Lavrov’s comments came ahead of a key “Friends of Syria” meeting in Istanbul on Saturday to be attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry as well as several of his Western and Arab counterparts.
The Russian foreign minister warned against any military intervention in Syria, indicating that it would only make the situation worse and encourage the spread of radical Islamic groups including Al-Qaeda.
“We see Al-Qaeda-related groups struggling against the current regime (in Syria), and that’s a very worrying aspect”, Lavrov stated.
“And they are listed as terrorist groups by the United States”, he stressed.
From here, Lavrov assured that his country would do its best to foster a diplomatic solution.
“In our future deliberations we will try to avoid any measures that focus on military intervention and the isolation of the parties concerned”, he said, adding that “we will focus on establishing a dialogue platform with the participation of all parties involved”.
Source: Al-Manar
