MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The use of force cannot advance the settlement of the conflict in Syria, and both conflicting parties are coming to understand that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"As concerns the Syria conflict, one can come to the conclusion that any plan to settle it through the use of force by any party will not work," Lavrov said at the opening of the first ministerial session of a Russian-Arab League forum in Moscow on Wednesday.
"The understanding of the need to start a dialogue is making its way," he said.
"We are doing all we can to provide conditions for such a dialogue to start as soon as possible, without preconditions, and based on the agreements stipulated by the Geneva communique and being promoted by your league's and the UN's special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi," he said.
Talking about the current situation in the Middle East, Lavrov said Moscow is discontented with the current developments there. "The changes are involving a number of issues that cause both our and your concerns," he said.
Lavrov said he meant the eruption of hotbeds of armed conflicts in the region, growth in extremist sentiments, terrorism and uncontrolled proliferation of weapons.
"We believe the League should play the central role in settling the conflict occurring in the Arab world, including through efforts that should promote the resolution of internal conflicts and create conditions for a broad and inclusive dialogue involving all political groups, guaranteeing the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and certainly refraining from external interference without a clearly formulated UN Security Council mandate," he said.
Talking about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he once again called for intensifying the efforts of the Middle East Quartet and the Arab League.
"We are proposing consistently that the Quartet and the League act together," Lavrov said.
The Russian minister also expressed solidarity with the Arab League leadership on promoting the decision on convening a conference on creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. "We will work firmly to make sure that these decisions are implemented," he said.