Russia, US remain divided over planned Syria conference

Russia and the United States are still divided over some issues about the international conference on Syria the two have agreed to organize, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday. Moscow cannot agree to an event where participants "seek to impose solutions on the Syrian people from the outside and predetermine the course of a transitional process, the parameters of which have not been determined yet," he told reporters. He added that the meeting would not happen unless the Syrian opposition sends an authoritative delegation as the Syrian government intends to do. He also criticized Washington's unwillingness to pressure the Syrian opposition not to use the conference as a tool to ouster President Bashar al-Assad. The planned conference, he added, also requires the participation of influential regional powers, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. "But unfortunately, our partners hold a tough position trying to shut Iran out of the conference," Ryabkov said. Ryabkov made the remarks a day after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Paris and reaffirmed their commitment to holding the so-called "Geneva Conference II." Lavrov and Kerry announced the initiative on May 7 in Moscow, in hopes of building on last year's Geneva conference on Syria and seeking a solution to the prolonged Syria crisis. Also on Tuesday, Ryabkov criticized the European Union's decision to lift its arms embargo on the Syrian opposition. "This reflects a double standard and directly harms the prospects of" the planned Geneva conference, he said.