Syria ‘ready to participate’ in Moscow peace talks

Syrian state-run TV said Saturday that the government is prepared to take part in peace talks hosted by Russia next month, but the unnamed foreign ministry official it cited suggested the scope of the negotiations would be limited to “preliminary” talks meant to pave the way for a conference in Syria itself. The official was quoted as saying the government was “ready to participate in preparatory, advisory meetings in Moscow” that would “answer the aspirations of Syrians to find an exit from the crisis.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry had said Thursday that it hoped to host peace talks after Jan. 20 between the Syrian government and its fractured opposition.

We can’t give a response to something that’s still hanging in the air.

Hadi Bahra, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition group

Russia has said that the first stage of talks would include members of both the government-tolerated internal opposition and opposition groups based abroad. In the next stage, they would be joined by Syrian government representatives. But the Syrian government official was quoted as saying that “the preliminary, consultative meetings in Moscow are aimed at (finding) agreement on convening a dialogue conference between the Syrians themselves, without any foreign intervention.” It is unclear whether Syria’s opposition leaders in exile or rebel leaders would attend a conference in a government-controlled part of the country — particularly one that only aims to create dialogue.

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