Russia proposes to move the site for the Syrian constitutional committee

Meeting in Geneva. File photoNUR-SULTAN, June 16Russia has proposed moving the site for the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee from Geneva to Muscat, Abu Dhabi, and Algeria is also possible, said Alexander Lavrentiev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Syria. the need to transfer the work of the Constitutional Committee to a more neutral site and offered various sites, both Abu Dhabi and Muscat,» Lavrentyev said when asked if there were agreements on an alternative site in Geneva. He clarified that Algeria is also a possible site.Lavrentiev commented on the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee «In Nur-Sultan, such a possibility also exists, we have indicated it,» he said during a press conference. According to him, «here we must find a consensus solution.» Lavrentiev stressed that no clear agreements on this issue have been reached so far. But the continuation of work in Geneva for Russia becomes painful due to the unfriendly and «even hostile» position of Switzerland towards the Russian Federation. Earlier, Lavrentiev said that to replace Geneva, which had lost its neutral status, another venue should be found for holding meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee .In Kazakhstan, on June 15-16, the 18th round of high-level talks of the guarantor countries (Russia, Turkey, Iran) of the «Astana» process on a settlement in Syria with the participation of representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, as well as the UN is being held. In Syria since 2011 armed conflict continues. Negotiations in Nur-Sultan, known as the «Astana format» (after the former name of the capital of Kazakhstan), have been ongoing since 2017, and in January 2018, the Syrian National Dialogue Congress was held in Sochi, which was the first attempt since the beginning of the conflict to gather on one negotiation platform wide range of participants. The main result of the congress was the decision to establish a constitutional committee, which operates in Geneva, its main task is to prepare a constitutional reform. adopted a joint statement on the situation in Syria