Russia agrees on Egypt’s quartet idea on Syrian crisis

Russia agrees with Egypt on the idea of forming a Quartet to settle the Syrian crisis with the participation of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said on Monday while meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr. “We actively support the idea of Mohamed Morsi to form the regional Quartet for the settlement of the Syrian crisis,” Russian news agency (Iter-Tass) quoted the minister as saying. Lavrov said that the Syrian crisis issue was discussed in detail during talks here today and both sides agreed on holding further talks on the issue later next month. Earlier in August during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s President, Mohammad Morsy put forward an initiative to create the Quartet including Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia to find a solution to the conflict in Syria. The Quartet idea seeks to launch a political process with the participation of all segments of the Syrian population supporting Arab and international efforts including the mission of UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi . Lavrov said earlier during the Geneva Communique all parties of the meeting tried to use its influence on the conflict sides in Syria and launch negotiations but failed. He said some meeting members were trying to “unite the opposition on the platform of further fighting.” He hoped then “it would be easier if we try to unite the opposition on the negotiation principles.”