MOSCOW. May 21 (Interfax) - Moscow wants to support the Geneva process of Syrian settlement and is considering hosting a meeting of Syrians in Sochi, Vitaly Naumkin, the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Science, said.
"The political settlement process the Russian president was talking about [in Sochi following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] is lengthy," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Valdai Discussion Club on Monday.
"Clearly, Russia is now switching from the military track to two other tracks: the first is increasing support for the political process in Geneva and the continuing process in Astana, and also the possible organization of another meeting in Sochi [the National Dialogue Congress]. No final decision has been made on that yet," he said.
"The second track is the issue of economic rebuilding, where Russia needs partners. No one or two countries can cope with this process [by themselves]," Naumkin said.