MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Russian diplomats are going to Geneva to meet in the format Russia-U.S.-UN on November 5 with a serious intention to reach agreements on the unresolved issues relating to the participation by the Syrian parties and foreign countries, in particular, Iran, in the international conference on Syria.
"The Russian delegation is going to Geneva with the most serious intentions. We believe the main purpose of the meeting with our U.S. partners and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Syria Lahdar Brahimi is to continue constructive debate on all issues relating to the organization of the future international conference on Syria," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax before the meeting.
Gatilov and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov will head up the Russian delegation.
"It has to be said that some issues remain unresolved, and some of them are very important and play a key role in the convocation of the conference. They relate both to the involvement of the Syrian parties and the involvement of foreign countries, primarily, Iran. We continue to work on the assumption that Iran is a key regional partner and this country can play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis in Syria," Gatilov said.
Speaking about the representation of the conflict parties in Syria, Gatilov recalled that the Syrian government has long confirmed its readiness to take part in Geneva II without any preconditions, but the opposition has not expressed such a position clearly yet.
"We would very much like to hope that our partners in the U.S. will eventually be able to make the Syrian opposition agree to take part in the Geneva conference based on the Geneva communique signed on June 30, 2012," Gatilov said.
Gatilov also said he regrets that some leaders of the national coalition and the leaders of some opposition groups have recently made statements saying they are not ready to come to Geneva to begin political dialogue with the Syrian government.