BRUSSELS. Dec 17 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated the need to determine the composition of the Syrian opposition's delegation to the Geneva II international conference on Syria in order to stop this event from turning into a "profanation."
"We do not want to have any profanation of these talks. We do not want the people who will sit down across the table from the government to be unable to answer for their words eventually. That is why we are entering a critical stage," Lavrov said at a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
"Various "structures" of the Syrian opposition "are multiplying like mushrooms" today, and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces is split, he said.
"Our key task today is to persuade our American partners and those who communicate with the opposition and all of its wings more often than we do, as well as those who have a greater influence on this opposition than we do to tell us after all what it [the Syrian opposition] represents today. Who can speak responsibly and with authority on behalf of the opposition? Who is able to reach agreements and tackle the tasks set by all of us, including in the [UN] Security Council's Resolution 2118?" the Russian minister said.
If the Geneva II conference involves only the Syrian opposition's foreign wing, which holds no influence over opposition forces acting inside Syria, "such a conference will become pointless," Lavrov said.
Although even in this case Russia will continue working to ensure that this international conference takes place, he added.