BFF-09 Russian senator regrets Syrian negotiations committee’s decision about Sochi congress

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RUSSIAN-REGRETS-NEGOTIATION-SOCHI

Russian senator regrets Syrian negotiations committee’s decision about Sochi
congress

MOSCOW, Jan 27, 2018 (BSS/TASS) – Chairman of the Russian Federation
Council (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin
Kosachev regrets the Syrian opposition’s negotiations committee’s decision to
reject invitation to the Syrian National Dialogue Congress due in Sochi on
January 29-30.

“I deeply regret it,” Kosachev told TASS on Saturday. “The Congress
provides a real chance to advance in bringing various forces closer together
in order to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254,”
he added.

The vote took place late on Friday. According to sources familiar with the
situation, 26 out of 36 members voted against participation, which is enough
to make a decision.

The committee’s head Nasr al-Hariri is expected to announce the decision
at a press conference later on Saturday.

The guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire – Russia, Iran and Turkey –
announced at a meeting held in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana in December
2017 that the Syrian National Dialogue Congress would take place in Russia’s
Black Sea resort of Sochi on January 29-30. Participants are expected to work
out a new Syrian constitution and discuss preparations for the UN-sponsored
elections.

In the beginning of the week, Kosachev held a meeting with al-Hariri,
saying that he planned to take part in the Sochi Congress and would be happy
to see the committee’s delegation there. The senator also said that it would
only be possible to find a sustainable solution to the Syria issue when its
conditions were outlined and agreed on by all the participants in the
process, “except for those who openly support terrorist ideas.”.

BSS/TASS/MRI/0925 hrs