Comment by the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the issue of preparation for the International conference on Syria

According to the incoming messages, a session of the General Assembly of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NC) was held in the suburbs of Istanbul on the 6-7 January. As a result of the elections the president of the coalition, Ahmad al-Jarba, kept his position. At the same time, several dozens of the assembly's participants reported that they are leaving the NC because of disagreements regarding participation in the Geneva-2 international conference and approaches to the settlement of the Syrian crisis.

According to the latest information, the final decision about the National Coalition's participation in the International conference on Syria, which is expected to open on 22 January 2014, will be made by NC leaders no earlier than on the 17 January.

Unfortunately, we have to state that one of the movements of the Syrian opposition continues to surround their participation in the work of the Geneva-2 international conference with preconditions, thus attempting to predetermine its results.

Moscow is still convinced that there is no alternative tothe political and diplomatic settlement of the Syrian crisis. The launch of the conference without any preconditions on the 22 January at the international forum in Montreux, Switzerland, is expected to stop the violence and bloodshed, and end the sufferings of the Syrian people as soon as possible. At the same time, the generally accepted foundation for the inter-Syrian dialogue is the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012, supported by consensus resolution 2118 of the UN Security Council. The International conference on Syria is being convened for the implementation of this communique, where Syrians should achieve mutual consent on principled issues of the future of their country.

In our turn, we continue to conduct energetic and purposeful work with all the Syrian representatives and parties, including the National Coalition. Against this background, several high-level meetings and contacts are planned in the forthcoming period.

9 January 2014