USA More Attentive to Russia’s Initiative on Syria, Says Lavrov

Moscow, Sep 23 (Prensa Latina) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that the United States has become more attentive to the viewpoint of Russia regarding the settlement process in Syria.

Lavrov told reporters that the US side has become more receptive to the arguments that Russia has been maintaining since March 2011.

Referring to the statement by US secretary of State John Kerry saying that the United States wants to cooperate with Russia in the settlement of the conflict, Lavrov said that they have such opportunities.

He said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke by telephone with his US counterpart Ashton Carter on this issue and both sides positively assessed their contacts.

Meanwhile, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zajarova, said today that the United States should withdraw from the Geneva Communique signed on June 30, 2012 if it does not agree about letting the Syrian people deciding their own future.

“The United States must decide what they are doing and clearly present to the world its participation in the events”, she said.

Zajarova reiterated that if the United States meets the Geneva Communique, then how can this country suggest at the UN General Assembly ways and concepts to change the management?

Zarajova reiterated that the Geneva Communique states that future policy of Syria should be determined by the Syrian people itself.

“Probably, the United States must express its withdrawal from the Geneva Communique, then we will be able to understand what is its next move”, she said.

Since 2011, Syrian constitutional troops are subjected to the attacks staged by different organizations,including terrorist Islamic State and Al-Nusra groups, linked to Al-Qaeda, in a conflict that has already caused more than 200,000 fatalities, some 7.6 million immigrants and 12 million displaced, according to sources of the European Union.

Russia insisted from the beginning on joining efforts to defeat terrorism and save the Syrian State, while the United States has as precondition the overthrow of constitutional President Bashar al-Assad.