International Meeting on Syria to take place in Geneva
On 30 June 2012, the International Ministerial Meeting on Syria is to take place in Geneva.
Russia’s active participation and initiative have largely contributed to making this event possible. Russia has made every effort to stop the bloodshed and bring about peaceful settlement in Syria.
The Special Envoy peace plan has been failing as violence has grown in recent months. In the light of this, Russia has proposed to hold an international conference that would allow all the external players to pull their efforts at ensuring observance of the Special Envoy peace plan by all the Syrian sides. First and foremost, this would include stopping all kinds of violence and launching a political dialogue.
Over the last few weeks, Kofi Annan, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and several regional states have been communicating actively with each other. They addressed important matters regarding the forthcoming forum and its possible achievements. At the same time the Russian party maintained close contact with Damascus, including the 22 June meeting of the Russian and Syrian Foreign Ministers in St Petersburg, and kept liaising with various opposition groups.
The preparation process revealed both common grounds and profound differences between the potential participants. It cost a lot of effort to draw the list of invitees. The Russian proposal was opposed by the US, primarily regarding Iran’s participation. We believe that the decision made by the UN Special Envoy Kofi Annan is not the optimal as it leaves out such important players as Iran or Saudi Arabia, Syria’s close neigbours – Lebanon and Jordan, as well as the influential transregional body – the Islamic Cooperation Organisation. Russia invariably adheres to its principled position: the Syrians must determine the fate of their country themselves. Accidentally, this understanding was endorsed in the Joint Russia-US Statement made by President Putin and President Obama on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Los Cabos. We are deeply concerned with the situation on the ground, the killings and sufferings of peaceful Syrian citizens as a result of endless armed clashes, attacks and terrorist acts. In this connection, the Russian side deems crucial that the international community elaborate specific mechanisms aimed at reaching a ceasefire and synchronised pullout of national forces and armed opposition from Syrian cities and other settlements under the supervision of the UN Observer Mission in Syria to enable municipal authorities to deal with acute social problems of the population. Implementation of these measures would create an environment conducive to a prompt launch of a nation-wide dialogue between the Syrian government and all the opposition groups, which would allow the Syrians to draw their own agenda and timeline of their transition process.
All of these questions, as we see it, must be addressed at the ministerial meeting in Geneva.
In general, we view the forthcoming meeting of the Geneva group as a positive step towards finding an international consensus about the fact that a peaceful political settlement is the only acceptable alternative for Syria.
The representatives of the Business 20, Civil 20, and Labour 20 were invited to the third G20 Sherpas' Meeting, held in St.Petersburg on May 11-12, 2013, to discuss the upcoming G20 meetings. Alexey Zharkov, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, and John Evans, TUAC General Secretary presented the Labour 20 policy positions prior to the G20 Labour Ministers' Meeting with Social Partners on July 18 in Moscow.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, We had valuable negotiations with Elmar Mammadyarov. We review the bilateral agenda, agreed what may foreign policy agencies of Russia and Azerbaijan do for full-scale fulfilment of the agreements reached at the level of presidents of our countries and build-up of cooperation in all spheres.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Today the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin had a conversation with Secretary General of the Council of Europe T.Jagland, but I had detailed negotiations with the Secretary General. We discussed the whole spectrum of issues topical for the Council of Europe at the modern stage.
Vladimir Putin met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland, who is in Russia on a working visit. The meeting discussed current issues concerning Russia’s relations with the Council of Europe.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, We have completed the main part of our negotiations with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He will have a meeting with the President of Russia in a few hours. As always, our conversation was very substantial and honest. We are sincerely interested in the consolidation of the role of the UN. This is one of the main tasks in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation approved by the President Vladimir Putin on 12 February 2013.
Question: I would like to start our conversation from your last international contacts and, first of all, from your meeting with US Secretary of State in Moscow on 7 May. The day after he left Moscow, John Kerry made a statement in Rome that there is no place for President Bashar al-Assad in the new transitional government. There were also statements that the White House had not made its final decision about armament of the opposition and is waiting for the results of the investigation of the use of chemical weapons in SAR to make this decision. We know about the agreements reached between Russia and the USA in Moscow, however, we would still like to understand why we have heard other statements, which do not fit within the framework of the agreements reached the day before, as soon as the US Secretary of State left Moscow.
Question: The “Partnership for Modernisation” program is a significant element of the Russian-German dialog. What else would you like to decide within the framework of this format? How do you see next stages of its implementation? Sergey Lavrov: First of all, I would like that governments do not interfere with the cooperation of companies dealing with innovations and their industrial deployment within the framework of “Partnership for Modernisation”. Governments should know how this happens, to create a legal framework, a maximally comfortable regime for such cooperation, while professionals should decide each in its sphere. The more contacts we have within the framework of “Partnership for Modernisation”, the more weighty results we achieve in the form of final products, workplaces, additional profits of companies in Russia and Germany. I think that we share these interests, especially on the background of the most magnificent events in the world and European economy.
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