Russian envoy: Assad’s fate not subject to negotiations

MOSCOW - 30 November 2017: Russia has called on partners in Geneva to bring the Syrian opposition down to earth as its demand that Syrian President Bashar Assad must not contribute to a constructive dialogue, Tass news agency quoted Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geneva office and other Geneva-based International Organizations Alexei Borodavkin as saying.

"All this is very alarming and will hardly contribute to a constructive dialogue in Geneva," Borodavkin said.

"During the meeting (of representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council) Russia turned to its partners at the UN and Western delegations, which have influence on the opposition, so that they try to bring the opposition down to earth as their position is not in line with the real situation," he said.

The document adopted by the Syrian opposition at its Riyadh meeting, which contains a demand for Assad’s resignation, is contradictory, he said.

"The document that opposition adopted in Riyadh, cited by the opposition delegation which has arrived in Geneva, is very contradictory," Borodavkin said.

"On the one hand, the document says that the opposition is not setting any preconditions, but on the other hand, there is a demand for Bashar al Assad’s resignation in the very beginning of the transition period. What is that if not a precondition?" the Russian envoy said.

Moscow believes the decision by the Syrian government delegation to travel to Geneva for the eighth round of the intra-Syrian consultations was the right move.