GENEVA. Nov 27 (Interfax) - There is no alternative to stopping the armed hostilities in Syria, and those who disagree with this need to be influenced, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and special presidential envoy for the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov said.
"Surely, it would have been important to absolutely stop all military actions long ago, and the conference is designed precisely to stop this bloodshed and address issues concerning the settlement of the crisis through peace negotiations," Bogdanov told journalists on Tuesday.
The Syrian Free Army, which has declared its disagreement with stopping the hostilities, should be influenced by "international or regional parties that wield influence," he said.
"There is always the question: what is the reasonable alternative? I don't know how much the Syrian Free Army is consolidated in terms of some approaches, perhaps there are different views on the situation there. They should be asked what reasonable alternative they have," he said.
"We hear from absolutely all of our counterparts that everyone has come to a final decision: there is no military solution to the crisis, and a solution can only be political. If someone believes this general conclusion goes against their view, let them say what reasonable way they see," he said.
"The conflict should be redirected onto the path of political settlement, Bogdanov said. "There are a lot of urgent tasks related to the resolution of humanitarian problems, but if a person is killed, he or she will not need treatment, bread, or other humanitarian necessities tomorrow, and therefore the primary goal is to stop bloodshed," he said.
About 200 Syrians are killed in the conflict every day, Bogdanov said, calling this "a sad harvest of bloodshed and violence in this country."
"Naturally, we discussed the humanitarian situation so as to help those who are in a difficult situation in Syria itself and refugees. There have been contacts with representatives of international humanitarian organizations, and they have provided professional and impartial judgments," he said.
"We will be making our contribution and continue to provide humanitarian aid by sending Emergency Situations Ministry planes with humanitarian cargo for the Syrian population to this country itself and to the neighboring ones, where there are refugees," he said.