MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and the United Nations have done much to normalize the situation in Syria, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at talks with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in Moscow on Monday.
"Your predecessor, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, did a lot. He laid very good groundwork, which was conceived in large part in Moscow, in Russia, including in the Defense Ministry," Shoigu said.
He referred to the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, which was organized together with the UN, he said.
"This also certainly includes the establishment of the constitutional committee, on which Mr. de Mistura worked long and productively," Shoigu said.
"We did everything we could to help him with that. I hope the groundwork that he laid will help in large part attain the objectives facing you. The objectives are not easy," he said.
Pedersen, a Norwegian diplomat, became the UN envoy for Syria on January 7, 2019. His predecessor, Staffan de Mistura, announced his resignation for personal reasons last fall.