Sources told Al Arabiya News Channel on Thursday that Russia has pressured the Syrian opposition in Geneva to accept a proposal by the UN envoy for Syria Steffan de Mistura, which is meant to draft a new constitution before any transfer of power talks in the conflict-torn country.
The sources also added that the Syrian opposition told Russia that they reject any solution involving Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad staying in power.
They also said that the Russian deputy foreign minister told the Syrian opposition that there is no international decision that clearly talks about Assad’s future.
The Syrian opposition on Thursday was waiting for new amendments by de Mistura after rejecting his proposal. De Mistura withdrew Wednesday evening his proposal to form a team to create a new inclusive constitution after the Syrian opposition made it clear that it wanted to go through transition of power talks first.
The opposition criticized de Mistura’s proposal as diffusing attention away from the Syrian opposition’s demands.
The Syrian opposition also said that the priorities for any sound political process in Syria is to fully implement ceasefire and to speed up the handover of culprits who were behind the killing and imprisonment of innocent civilians.
While the talks between Syria’s warring sides is continuing in Geneva, skepticism and lack of belief in any breakthroughs still shroud the negotiations aimed at ending the six-year conflict.
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