Russia to continue efforts to convene Geneva 2 as soon as possible

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Russia would continue efforts to convene the Geneva 2 conference as soon as possible; however, the Syrian opposition was still failing to achieve unity in its ranks. “I would like to express my gratitude to those who are supporting the Russian-U.S. initiative to convene the Geneva 2 conference. We want it to happen as early as possible, however, we do not see any well-organized opposition ranks or unity among the opposition forces,” Lavrov told the 8th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Brunei. “We have had a detailed conversation on this with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,” Lavrov noted. “It is important to convene as early as possible the forum about which we have been talking for many months already. The more we wait, the stronger become the positions in Syria of the radical Islam supporters that have already declared the goal to create a Sharia-based coalition and form a caliphate in Syria and around it.” “In other words, the longer the delay with the launch of a political process, the more there are chances that the radicals will “run the show” in Syria,” the minister added.