Start of talks on Syria in Geneva to be assessed at meeting in Munich on February 11

Moscow hopes that progress will be made in coordinating lists of terrorist organization at the meeting on Syria on February 11, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and special presidential representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov said.

"Different countries consider different organizations as terrorist, and these assessments often vary. That’s why there are different assessments and approaches. For now there is no universal definition of terrorist organizations in Syria, I mean that consensus among all members [of Vienna group] has not been reached yet. This is a hard fact," Bogdanov said according to Tass News Agency on Thursday.

Negotiations on Syria "in Vienna format" will be held in Munich on February 11 ahead of Munich Security Conference. On January 29 inter-Syrian talks are expected to be launched in Geneva. Staffan de Mistura already sent invitations to participants in the upcoming meeting. On Monday de Mistura said that negotiations will last for six months but the first stage will take two-three weeks.

The last round of talks on Syria "in Vienna format" were held in the Austrian capital on November 14. Among participants were representatives of delegations from 19 countries, including Russia, United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, Italy, Egypt, United Kingdom, Germany, Lebanon, Qatar, Iran, France, China, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Oman, along with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and representatives of the League of Arab States.

Source: MENA