30.06.2012 13:50
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held brief talks on Friday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in St.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held brief talks on Friday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in St. Petersburg on a working visit.
Sergei Lavrov believes that the international community has a good chance in Geneva of finding a path forward to stimulate the implementation of Kofi Annan's Plan on the Syrian conflict.
The UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, proposed on Wednesday to create an interim Syrian government that would include both opposition figures and those loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
"We have a very good chance tomorrow in Geneva to find a common denominator and find a path forward in order to stimulate the implementation of of Annan's Plan from both sides of the Syrian [conflict]," Lavrov said during the meeting.
Lavrov has said the Syrian government is ready to withdraw its armed forces from the country's cities in parallel with the forces of the Syrian opposition.
Lavrov also noted that he felt a change in the United States' position after speaking with Clinton about Syria.
"I felt that my colleague's position had shifted, because there were no ultimatums, nothing about the fact the document that is being discussed in Geneva is off limits, whereas yesterday and the day before this was the message communicated by representatives of the State Department and the White House", Lavrov said after the talks.
"We … agreed to search for solutions that would bring us closer, clearly understanding the fact that all sides of the Syrian conflict must be motivated to engage in a national dialogue, as is stipulated in the Annan plan. It is up to the Syrians to decide what Syria as a state would be like in the future, and who will take different posts", he added.
The new plan will be discussed at the meeting in Geneva on Saturday where the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar are expected to participate.
According to UN estimates, some 10,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of a popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based organization with a network of activists in Syria, has put the death toll at 12,000.