Lavrov blasts Syria opposition ‘extremists’

Russia's foreign minister Tuesday slammed “extremists” in the Syrian opposition who he said were blocking the start of dialogue in the war-torn country, ahead of talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Hours before he was due to meet Kerry, Sergei Lavrov said that recent faint hopes that dialogue was possible between the opposition and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had dissipated.

“It seems that extremists who bet on an armed solution to the Syrian problem have prevailed in the ranks of the opposition at this time, including the so-called (Syrian) National Coalition, blocking all initiatives that could lead to the start of dialogue,” Lavrov told reporters.

Kerry meets his Russian counterpart here later Tuesday in a bid to bridge differences between Moscow and Washington over Syria, after convincing the opposition to take part in an international meeting on the conflict. The diplomatic push by the top US diplomat, on an 11-day tour of Europe and the Middle East, his first foreign trip since taking over the office, coincided with the Syrian regime saying it was ready to talk to armed rebels. Russia is one of the few big powers to keep ties with the Assad regime amid the conflict with rebels and together with China has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions that would have introduced sanctions against Damascus.

AFP