Russia condemns attempts to provoke Syrian government to leave Geneva

Attempts to provoke the Syrian government to "slam the door" at the Geneva II peace conference are wrong and illogical, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. "With claims that the use of force remains a possible option, steps are being taken to politicize all humanitarian issues at the UN Security Council," Lavrov told reporters following his talks with visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Probably, they wish to force the Syrian government to slam the door shut, Lavrov said. "These attempts are wrong. One must implement what has been agreed." Lavrov said the attempts to derail the political process on Syria have been systematic, with the United States and France going most steadily along that track. This has caused concern in Moscow, said the top Russian diplomat. He added that no artificial deadline should be set for the intra-Syrian negotiations, and that Moscow is content with Damascus' readiness to discuss the implementation of the 2012 Geneva communique step by step. Meanwhile, he said, Russia is concerned about the Syrian National Coalition chief's absence from the second round of the Geneva II talks, describing the opposition leader's move as an attempt to derail the political process and seek regime change in the war-torn country. He also slammed outside players for their lack of willingness to work on "parameters" for a transitional ruling body in Syria. "Apparently, any logic demands that parameters for reforms and a transitional process should be agreed upon first, after which the personal composition of the structures in charge of these issues can be determined," said the Russian minister. However, he added, "those who secured the opposition's participation in this process refused to discuss political settlement principles pending the appearance of a transitional ruling body." The UN-backed international conference, dubbed Geneva II, started late January this year at the Swiss lakeside city of Montreux, aimed at ending the three-year-old conflict in Syria. The first round of the conference was stranded by the huge division between the Syrian government and the opposition. The second round resumed early this week but has seen little rift healed so far.