Medvedev hints at date of Syria talks

Russia’s prime minister has expressed hope that the Geneva conference on the crisis in Syria will be held before the end of 2013.

Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, “I hope it will be possible to hold the conference by the end of this year but we understand that the influence of all sides taking part is limited.”

“It depends to a great extent on the positions of the Syrian sides. We’re pushing them towards this, and I hope everyone who talks to different circles in Syria will do the same.”

Medvedev also slammed Syria’s foreign-backed opposition for demanding assurances of President Bashar al-Assad’s departure as a condition for the proposed talks.

Syria’s increasingly divided opposition has so far balked at attending the event.

The so-called Syria National Coalition (SNC) says it will not take part in the proposed meeting if President Assad’s resignation is not on the table. The group is expected to meet on November 9 to decide whether to take part in the talks.

The Russian premier said the ideas that are sometimes put forward about excluding President Assad “and then agree on everything – are unrealistic as long as Assad is in power.”

The comments come as UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said on Friday that Geneva conference could not be held without the participation of Syria’s foreign-backed opposition coalition.

“If the opposition does not participate there will be no Geneva conference,” Brahimi told a press conference in Damascus, describing the presence of the foreign-backed group in the planned meeting as “essential, necessary and important.”

US, Russian and UN envoys are due to meet in Geneva on Tuesday as part of preparations for the long-delayed event, which was first proposed by Moscow and Washington in May.