Moscow calls for agreement on opposition groups in Syria

Moscow has said that it handed Saudi Arabia and the United States a list at the Vienna talks of dozens of Syrian opposition figures with whom it is liaising in a bid to thrash out who each side thinks represents the factious opposition.

The United States and Russian Federation signed a “memorandum of understanding” on October 20 aimed at de-conflicting their air operations over Syria, where they are waging parallel air campaigns with different objectives.

“What we did say is a regime change in Syria could become a local or even regional catastrophe, ‘ she said, adding that ‘only the Syrian people can decide the president’s fate”.

Deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov called the contact with the opposition groups “useful”, both for “fighting terrorism and promoting the political process”, while speaking to Interfax news agency. Davis said one USA fighter aircraft conducted a three-minute planned communications test with one Russian fighter aircraft over south central Syria.

The United States, which is leading an global campaign against the IS in Syria and Iraq, is opposed to Moscow’s backing of Assad and has been criticizing Russia’s airstrikes for targeting only Damascus’ opponents.

Press TV has interviewed Hazem Salem, a political activist and commentator in Cairo, about Russia saying representatives from the Syrian government and opposition groups could partake in upcoming peace negotiations in the Russian capital.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope Wednesday that diplomats will agree on a list of opposition groups that should be invited to U.N.-brokered peace talks on Syria.

The SNC has been accused of slipping into virtual irrelevance on the battlefield as Islamist and Kurdish groups have grown stronger.

But her remarks appeared to suggest a difference of approach compared with Iran, which has sent forces to fight alongside Assad’s military and ordered in fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which it controls.

Without elaborating, Nuland said U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Daesh could produce an area in northern Syria where civilians could be safe from hardliners and Syrian government forces.

Another round of global talks could be held in Vienna within two weeks, according to Patterson.

Mr Mekdad also said that Syria had not received official notice of any meeting with members of the Syrian opposition, after a Russian official said Moscow might bring them together next week. While Republican lawmakers at Wednesday’s hearing pressed Obama administration officials to bomb more frequently, Democrats questioned whether sending US special forces to Syria will amount to a “slippery slope” of ever-increasing American involvement in the civil war, now in its fifth year.

Elsewhere, the Observatory said the civilian death toll had risen to 23 in apparent Russian strikes Monday on the IS-held town of Al-Qaryatain.