Lavrov Says ‘No Talks with Militants in Syria’


Lavrov Says ‘No Talks with Militants in Syria’

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Amid the Geneva 2 peace conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that no talks will take place with terrorists in Syria.

"We refuse to have talks and do not recommend other parties to hold talks with them over principled considerations," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia’s NTV on Sunday, RT reported.

The minister noted that Jebhat an-Nusra, the Islamic state of Iraq and Levant, and other Al-Qaeda branches cannot be involved in the peace process while militants “rampage and commit terrorist acts (in Syria).”

Lavrov has expressed doubts about including the recently established Syrian Islamic Front in the peace process.

The Islamic Front includes organizations that were directly involved in a massacre that killed at least 32 civilians in Adra, Lavrov said, and "some or another structure can hardly be imagined to be a partner in peace talks.”

“Militants are flowing like communicating vessels between the Islamic Front, Javhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - they go to where more money is paid," Lavrov said.

"It is important that political process would be accompanied with a union of sound forces, which think about their homeland, but not about creation of a Halifat in the Middle East or North Africa in order to unite them in different ways and help them combat terrorism," he continued.

Lavrov stated that Russia, along with all other G8 members - the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada - believe that “extremists and terrorists call the tune increasingly in different Syrian regions.”

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