US says willing to join Russia in Syria peace talks
The US has said it would be open to the Russian proposal that both countries join a meeting between representatives from the opposition, the Assad regime, and the UN.
As a new round of Syria peace talks got underway in Geneva Monday, the United States said it was open to a Russian proposal that American and Russian diplomats join the UN and Syrian parties in a joint meeting.
“We have always supported full implementation of the Geneva communique, and if additional meetings under UN auspices will help the negotiations move forward, we are very ready to consider these,” a US official in Geneva, speaking not for attribution, told journalists in an emailed statement Monday.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, speaking to Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency, proposed “that Russian, American and UN officials meet the Syrian government and opposition delegations at peace talks in Geneva,” Reuters reported.
“Russia diplomats are approaching the organization of the negotiating process as creatively as possible," Bogdanov said.
