STRELNA, St. Petersburg. Nov 22 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped that the Geneva II conference on the Syrian conflict settlement would be held as quickly as possible.
"Russia has taken the obligation to convince the Syrian authorities [on the necessity to hold the conference] and we have completed our share of work, now it is the turn of our partners, who should convince the opposition of the same," Putin said following talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.
No one is "sitting on their hands" in Moscow, Putin said.
"We have proposed to leaders of the Syrian opposition to gather in Moscow and to hold additional consultations," the president said.
Putin said that the issue was discussed today with Erdogan and had been discussed on the telephone with the Saudi King, the Iranian president and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"We are generally advancing in this direction and I would like very much that this conference is held and is held as quickly as possible," Putin said.