‘Syrian dialogue congress will be held as scheduled’

MOSCOW: Russian President’s Special Envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, confirmed that the Syrian National Dialogue Congress will be held in Sochi as scheduled on January 29-30, stressing that the lists of participants were agreed upon.

In a press conference in Sochi on Saturday, Lavrentiev said that the US troops should not further stay in Syria without approval from Syrian government. “Our position is clear; the US troops should not further stay on the territory of a sovereign state without approval from its government. It may negatively affect the congress.” Lavrentiev told reporters, expecting the participation of the US side in the congress in Sochi as observers.

He hoped the UN representatives to the Sochi Congress to be at the highest level. “We would like very much that the UN representatives be at the Sochi forum at the highest level. We hope that the UN secretary general will send his Special Envoy [for Syria] Staffan de Mistura here, who will participate actively in the opening of the forum,” Lavrentiev told reporters. Regarding the organization of the Congress, “We have managed to agree on the list of participants of the forum… the participants of the congress will receive the invitations,” Laventiev said.

Responding to a question whether the conditions in Idleb will affect the Congress, Laventiev said that the situations in some Syrian areas remain tensed and this could not affect holding the congress.