US Bombed UN Peace Talks on Syria: Russian FM
The US, France and Britain “on 14 April bombed not only made-up chemical sites in Syria, but also bombed the (UN-backed peace) talks in Geneva,” Sergei Lavrov said following a meeting in Moscow with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, AFP reported.
“We came very close to a relaunching of the Geneva process with a real dialogue between Syrians, mainly on the question of constitutional reform,” Lavrov added.
De Mistura, who also met Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, said the UN’s priority was to “lower the temperature” following the strikes.
“I’m very pleased to hear… that in spite of what happened last week and it is still very recent, there is a strong commitment from the Russian Federation to push for the political process,” he said.
“It is important we turn the page on this alleged chemical attack because we need to go back to the basics,” he added.
The US France and Britain carried out air strikes on what they said were Syrian chemical weapons installations in response to an alleged chemical weapon attack.
Moscow, an ally of Damascus, has long stressed an alleged attack in Douma was “staged” by Syrian rebels and the civil defense organization, the White Helmets.
