Russian FM: West must persuade Ukraine to honor peace deal

Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Judge Robert Owen’s conclusion was based on testimony of hand-picked witnesses who he said lacked objectivity and classified testimony.

United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura was due to send out invites Tuesday to opposition groups to attend the talks after negotiations were delayed several days to Friday due to a “stalemate” over the makeup of the delegations.

Lavrov said Russian Federation would not negotiate the status of Crimea, which it took from Ukraine and annexed in 2014.

Speaking at an annual news conference, Mr. Lavrov said it was essential to invite the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, the political wing of the Syrian fighters who have gained ground against Islamic State.

Lavrov added that Moscow was now working with the family’s lawyer and that he said that it is clear that the girl could not voluntarily disappear for 30 hours, Interfax reported.

“How can one talk about political reforms in Syria while ignoring the main Kurdish political party?”

The five-year civil war in Syria has seen more than 250,000 killed and led to more than 10.5 million fleeing their homes, according to the UN.

“Without this party, without this participant the talks can not achieve the results that we want, a definitive political resolution in Syria”, Lavrov told journalists.

Lavrov also warned against Saudi Arabia’s proposal to invite only opposition groups which it hosted at a meeting last month, saying the Syrian peace process should also include other opposition representatives, like those which met for talks in Moscow past year.

He noted that he “highly values” his cooperation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in helping pave way for the talks.

“We favoured the formation of a wide anti-terrorism coalition and our actions restricted the area under terrorist-held control in Syria”.

The PYD is the Syrian extension of the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.