Russia urges internal dialogue in Syria

Russia is calling for dialogue among relevant Syrian parties to solve the country's crisis, Foreign Ministry said Monday. The ministry made the statement after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov held talks with a visiting delegation from the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC). The statement said Russia has made it clear that Moscow rejects violence in Syria and supports constructive approaches to the crisis. "Russia called on all relevant parties in Syria....to immediately start implementing the Arab League's peace initiative to settle the crisis and launching a dialogue between the Syrian authorities and the opposition," the ministry said. The chairman of the SNC, Burhan Ghalyoun, told reporters after the meeting that the delegation had persuaded Moscow to press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign. "We informed our Russian colleagues....we find it is necessary that Russia and international community send important signals demanding Bashar al-Assad's resignation," Ghalyoun said. He added that SNC supports the Arab League (AL)'s peace initiative. On Nov. 2, the Syrian government fully accepted a peace plan put forward by the AL to end the crisis without any reservation. The peace plan calls for stopping violence and withdrawing military vehicles from Syrian streets in addition to releasing detainees and holding dialogue between Syrian authorities and the opposition at AL headquarters.