Lavrov stresses need to prevent extremists from infiltrating political process in Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed the need to prevent extremists from infiltrating the political process in Syria.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Lavrov said that extremist circles in prohibited organizations that are classified as terrorist organizations by the Security Council mustn’t be allowed to infiltrate the political process in Syria.

He voiced hope that the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva would not be undermined and that it would continue to play an important role in reaching a settlement in Syria alongside the Astana meetings, adding that the Geneva talks agenda is set by the Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution no. 2254 which calls for fighting terrorism relentlessly and isolating the “moderate opposition” from terrorists and extremists.

Lavrov said that if the issue of fighting terrorism is removed from the agenda, it will fail to comply with the aforementioned resolution, adding that according to the information he received, the participants in the Geneva talks have started to realize the need to find approaches that suit this resolution, including fighting terrorism.
SANA
1/3/17