Lavrov and Pedersen discuss the progress of the political process in Syria
Russian media sources said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in New York, the progress of the political process in Syria, and the issue of resuming the work of the Constitutional Committee.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two parties “discussed in detail ways to strengthen the political process led and implemented by the Syrians themselves with the help of the United Nations, as stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution No. 2254.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry added that “particular attention was paid to the issue of resuming the meetings of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva and continuing the direct Syrian dialogue without preconditions or external interference.”
Pedersen met with the head of the Syrian coalition, Salem al-Maslat, and the head of the negotiating committee, Anas al-Abdah, in the Turkish city of Istanbul, after a visit he made to the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, previously described his talks with the Assad regime’s Foreign Minister, “Faisal Miqdad” in Damascus, as “very successful.” It is fair to say that during these talks we discussed all the challenges facing Syria, and we spent some time talking about the situation on the ground in the various Syrian regions.
The statements of the UN envoy come at a time when civilian homes in Jabal al-Zawiya in the southern Idlib countryside are still subjected to daily Russian air and artillery bombardment by the Assad regime forces, days after the regime besieged civilians and destroyed their homes and residential neighborhoods in Daraa al-Balad.
On January 29, the fifth round of meetings of the Constitutional Committee concluded in Geneva, without formulating the basic principles of the goal for which it was established, which is to define the mechanism for drafting a new constitution for Syria in accordance with UN Resolution 2254 to form a transitional governing body and organize new elections.
