Turkey- Lavrov: Need to define who is Syrian opposition terrorists

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday highlighted the need to decide which of the various opposition groups fighting in Syria should be a part of future peace talks and which should be considered terrorists.

Lavrov spoke at a press conference after meeting in Moscow with U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to discuss the process of finding a political solution to the conflict that has left more than 240000 people dead since March 2011.

Earlier Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin's office said the leader discussed the situation in Syria in a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and that both men were ready to continue political dialogue.

International talks

De Mistura and Lavrov were part of international talks last week in Vienna that called for the U.N. to bring together the warring Syrian sides and help them move toward "credible inclusive non-sectarian governance" and a new constitution.

The participants which included the United States Iran Saudi Arabia and Turkey also said new elections should take place under U.N. supervision.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the fate of President Bashar al-Assad should be decided by the Syrian people and that keeping him in power is not crucial to Russia's objectives.

In power

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the fate of President Bashar al-Assad should be decided by the Syrian people and that keeping him in power is not crucial to Russia's objectives.

"We have never said Assad's staying in power is a principled aspect" of Russian policy on Syria Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Ekho Moskvy radio. Instead she stressed that the preservation of a functioning government in the Syrian state is central to ending more than four years of civil war.

She also warned that regime change in Syria currently sought by a host of Western nations could become a "regional catastrophe" making worse the effects of a war that has forced millions of people to flee the country since 2011.

Later Tuesday at the White House spokesman Josh Earnest discounted the Russian comments saying "I have doubts that [they] reflect any sort of change" in what he described as Moscow's "flawed strategy" in Syria.

Russia has stepped up its military support for the embattled president in the past two months deploying warplanes to Syria and carrying out airstrikes.

Russian diplomats and military officials contend the air attacks are aimed at Islamic State extremists but that claim is widely disputed by the U.S. and others who say the Russians have too often bombed Syrian opposition fighters who have no connection with or allegiance to the Islamic State militants.

US forces

A U.S.-led coalition is also carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State extremist targets in Syria and last week U.S. President Barack Obama announced the deployment of about 50 U.S. special-forces troops to support and advise local fighters battling Islamic State militants.

The White House said American troops in Syria will not directly engage in raids or combat.

The efficacy of the local coalition known as the Syrian Democratic Forces remains far from clear.

Last month the Pentagon scrapped a program aimed at training and arming Syrian rebels after reports surfaced that the force was too small and ineffective to confront the militants.