West Failing to Deliver on Syria Deals with Russia – FM Lavrov
MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s foreign minister on Monday said a key Syrian opposition group’s refusal to take part in the Moscow-backed Geneva-2 peace conference on Syria indicates that the West has failed to deliver on its promises.
The Istanbul-based Syrian National Council’s (SNC) head George Sabra said Sunday that “nothing useful” would come out of the meeting, and added that the Istanbul-based SNC would consult Syrians on the ground, including the Free Syrian Army rebel force, before deciding on its next move.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Sabra’s statement “confirms once again that we need to convene the conference as soon as possible.”
Lavrov said that, despite repeated reassurances from “our American partners” that they would mobilize all the diverse elements of the Syrian opposition to attend the conference “under the umbrella of the National Coalition,” there have been no results.
In contrast to what he called the West’s lack of influence over the Syrian opposition groups, Lavrov stressed that Russia exerts influence over the Syrian government, which delivers “real results.”
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131014/184146377/West-Failing-to-Deliver-on-Syria-Deals-with-Russia--FM-Lavrov.html