Bashar Al-Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad confirmed his readiness to negotiate with representatives of the opposition, including armed. On Wednesday, February 8, said the coordinator of the parliamentary group of the state Duma for relations with the Parliament of Syria, Dmitry Sablin, after meeting with the Syrian leader, reports TASS.
“Assad supports our efforts to Astana”, — he said. Another member of the delegation, MP Alexander Yushchenko added that the President of Syria has described the talks in the capital of Kazakhstan intelligent and far-sighted step.
In particular, according to him, the Syrian leader said the fact that the first dialogue was with representatives, “who are fighting with arms in hands.”
On 6 February in Astana the first meeting of the joint task force monitoring the ceasefire in Syria with the participation of experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran, the UN and Jordan. The group was formed following the conference on the Syrian settlement, held in the capital of Kazakhstan on 23-24 January. Following the negotiations of the joint operative group is scheduled for February 15-16.