Russia dismisses Friends of Syria meeting

The Friends of Syria meeting held at the weekend in Tunisia had failed to facilitate a settlement of the Syrian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. The meeting was "unilateral" and did not help create conditions for a national dialogue in Syria, Lavrov told a press conference after talks with visiting Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin. Lavrov said Russia "did not understand the status of the document" distributed by the delegates from the Friends of Syria group. He said Moscow would continue to work for a ceasefire as soon as possible to prevent civilian deaths. He also welcomed Sunday's referendum on a new constitution in Syria, hailing it "a movement toward democracy." Any new amendments to the Syrian constitution were not a prerogative of external forces, he said. Delegates from 60 countries and organizations, including the United States, European and Arab nations, and the Syrian opposition, were invited to the Friends of Syria conference, hosted by Tunisia. However, the conference shut its door to the Syrian government.