Moscow expects De Mistura would present a new plan to launch dialogue on crisis in Syria

Moscow, SANA-Russia expected that Staffan De Mistura, the UN special Envoy to Syria, will submit a plan to launch dialogue among different sides in Syria, Russian Deputy foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Saturday.

Gatilov, in an interview with RIA Novosti news Agency, added that Mistura is still preparing his agenda and needs more talks with the Syrian government and “the opposition” in addition to other important players to present his vision to solve the problem.

“We, in Russia, have showed our support and readiness to cooperate and work with Mistura,” Gatilov said.

UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon announced on July 10th the appointment of the Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan De Mistura as UN new envoy to Syria following resignation of Lakhdar Brahimi.

In a relevant context, Gatilov said that, since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Russia has warned against the danger of the western countries’ assistance offered to the extremists.

He added Russia had warned of helping the extremists in Syria, but the western partners were not interested except in achieving one goal, represented by “toppling the regime.”

Gatilov asserted that the European countries have become aware that the so-called “the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham” (ISIS) and the extremists pose a threat to the whole region.

H. Zain/Mazen