MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura has failed to comply with the UN Security Council resolution, which prescribes the presence of all Syrian opposition groups at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said.
"Unfortunately, de Mistura failed to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and ensure the equal presence of all opposition groups at the Geneva round of the intra-Syrian negotiations due to take place on February 23. A result of his stance is that some of the Syrian opposition forces, in particular the Moscow group, have deemed impossible to attend the Geneva round. This is what they said yesterday," Gatilov told Interfax.
As to whether de Mistura has invited Syrian Kurds, for which Moscow has been pushing for several years, Gatilov said, "no, he did not invite [them]."