KABUL (SW): Syria’s government rejected direct talks with the main opposition group even as the United Nations said Russia’s military pullout from the country has helped to breathe “new momentum” into the peace process in Geneva.
“We consider them a terrorist delegation that belongs to a terrorist faction,” Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, said of the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) on Wednesday after meeting Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special envoy for Syria.
The Saudi-backed HNC said on Tuesday that it would be prepared to sit down face-to-face with the government side.
President Vladimir Putin, whose military intervention last year in support of Bashar al-Assad turned the tide in Syria’s five-year civil war, ordered the partial Russian pullout on Monday. According to the Bloomberg News, the surprise move puts pressure on the Syrian government and opposition groups to reach a peace deal. Russia has urged Assad’s administration to be “constructive” in the Geneva negotiations to end a conflict that’s killed a quarter-million people, sparked a refugee exodus to Europe and allowed Islamic State a foothold.
The Russian decision, coupled with the refugee crisis and the fight against Islamic State, is moving the search for a political settlement forward, de Mistura told reporters on Tuesday after meeting the opposition delegation. “All this has produced a new momentum,” he said.
ENDS
