A Syrian government delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad on Thursday held talks at the Russian foreign ministry as Moscow denied the existence of a joint plan with the United States to end the crisis in the country. Muqdad held talks in the morning at the foreign ministry in Moscow, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, adding that the results would be announced later in the day. ‘The meeting has taken place. We will announce the results later,’ he told reporters.
‘This is of course a part of the efforts we are undertaking to encourage dialogue not just with the government but all opposition forces,’ he added. It was not immediately clear who was present at the closed-door meeting but the ITAR-TASS news agency on Wednesday said Muqdad's visit would include talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The meeting came amid a flurry of end-of-year diplomacy in Russia over the Syrian crisis that will also see talks between UN-Arab League Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Lavrov on Saturday. Lukashevich said the talks with Brahimi would be ‘directed at ending the violence and launching a national dialogue in the country between authorities and the opposition’.
‘This is of course a part of the efforts we are undertaking to encourage dialogue not just with the government but all opposition forces,’ he added. It was not immediately clear who was present at the closed-door meeting but the ITAR-TASS news agency on Wednesday said Muqdad's visit would include talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The meeting came amid a flurry of end-of-year diplomacy in Russia over the Syrian crisis that will also see talks between UN-Arab League Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Lavrov on Saturday. Lukashevich said the talks with Brahimi would be ‘directed at ending the violence and launching a national dialogue in the country between authorities and the opposition’.