PARIS. Jan 13 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he is hoping that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will send invitations to all external participants on which the solution to the conflict in Syria depends, including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
"We are hoping that the secretary-general, who sends conference invitations to everyone on whom the development of the situation really depends," he told a press conference after negotiations with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry.
The minister said that the representatives of all external participants of Geneva II should be represented at the conference.
"It's absolutely obvious to us that countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia should participate in Geneva II," he said.
Lavrov said the only condition of the countries' participation in Geneva II should be support of the Geneva communique adopted at the previous conference on Syria.
Kerry, for his part, did not mention the issue of Iran's participation in Geneva II among the issues on which agreement has been reached in his statement following the negotiations.
In the meantime, Lavrov said Geneva II is unlikely to lead to results in the settlement of the Syrian crisis if the government and the opposition do not reach agreements on the joint fight against terrorism in the country.
"Today we recalled the decision made by the leaders of the G8 in Loch Earn in June 2013. The final declaration of the G8 summit expressly calls on the government and the opposition to reach agreements on the unification of their efforts in the fight against terrorists, who have flooded Syria, at the Geneva conference," Lavrov said.
"I am convinced that the Geneva conference can hardly achieve its results without this issue," the minister said.
"It is good that not only the government, but also the opposition, as Ahmad Jarba confirmed to me yesterday, understand that very well. The opposition is also concerned about terrorism in some regions of Syria," the minister said.