Russia Refuses to Be 'Friend of Syria'

Russia will not participate in the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Tunisia, RBC reported Feb. 21, citing the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Lukashevich.

The meeting, which is supposed to begin Feb. 24, “has caused more questions than answers,” Lukashevich said.

“We have not been officially informed of the participants or the agenda. The main thing is that the aim of the meeting is unclear. According to some reports, various opposition groups have been called to the meeting in Tunisia, while there will be no representatives of the Syrian government, which means that the interests of a greater part of the Syrian population, who support the president, would not be represented,” Lukashevich said.   

According to Lukashevich, such a meeting could not “begin an all-Syria dialogue on searching ways for overcoming the internal crisis, which is what the Tunisian meeting is allegedly about.”

“On the contrary, there is an impression that a certain international coalition is being designed, as it was the case with the ‘contract group on Libya,’ with the aim of supporting one side in an internal conflict. There are serious questions as to the expected results of the meeting. According to some reports, a number of  countries are already working on a final document, which will then be given to sign to the other countries,” Lukashevich said.