Russia highly praises Syrian government's intention to cooperate with UN inspectors

The Russian Foreign Ministry values highly the intention, which the Syrian government voiced for cooperation with members of the U.N. delegation on chemical weapons, which arrived in Damascus on Wednesday. This position was put forward at a meeting between Russian presidential special envoy for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Syrian Ambassador in Moscow Riad Haddad on Thursday. “A high praise was given to a constructive mood of the Syrian government for cooperation with currently staying in Damascus U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane and Ake Sellstrom, the head of the team of U.N. chemical inspectors for a fact-finding mission over the allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement posted at the website of the ministry. The negotiators also discussed the development of the situation in Syria and around the country. “Bogdanov confirmed Russian essential position in favour of the soonest overcoming of the Syrian crisis by the Syrians themselves through a broad inclusive dialogue and a political process without foreign interference and with the respect to sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria,” the ministry added. For his part, Haddad confirmed that the Syrian government is prepared to participate in an international conference on Syria without any preconditions.