Bogdanov: There is no alternative plan regarding the crisis in Syria

The Russian President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and North Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov affirmed that there is no alternative plan regarding the crisis in Syria, but a plan that keeps pace with the decisions of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and the UN Security Council.

In a press statement on Friday, Bogdanov said that talking about Plan B or Plan C is complete nonsense and Russia has one plan which keeps pace with the decisions taken in Vienna and New York.

The Russian official pointed out that Russia is in constant contact with the Syrian and Iraqi governments on the fight against terrorism, emphasizing that all the sides are exchanging information and following what others are doing in order to make our common fight against terrorism effective as much as possible.

• In response to a question about whether actually there is exchange of information with “partners” on the liberation of Raqqa city from ISIS terrorist organization, Bogdanov said that the exchange of information is underway on Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and earlier happened on Palmyra, where the Russian side played a key role with the Syrian Arab Army.

Bogdanov reiterated Russia’s position calling for the resumption of the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva as soon as possible, adding that ” Russia would like to avoid long pauses and stopping of the dialogue, but this requires a political will of all participants so that the representatives of the various opposition factions be ready for these talks and not set preconditions and that was agreed upon by everyone under the Vienna formula.

He also reaffirmed the need for the intra-Syrian dialogue to include all sides, including the Syrian Kurds.

• In a relevant context, Bogdanov said that the exchange of information between the Russian and the US military in Syria is carried out on a daily basis between the coordination centers in Hmemim and Amman where development of the situations, commitment to the cessation of hostilities and registering the violations are discussed.

He pointed out that Moscow hopes for closer cooperation with Washington on combating terrorism, adding that the contacts at the level of foreign ministers and defense ministers are of course underway.
 [sana.sy]
27/5/16
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