Russia denies talks with US over ‘regime change’ in Syria

RUSSIA’S foreign minister has denied claims Moscow is discussing Syria’s future without President Bashar Assad.

• Russia says Syria’s fate should be decided by Syrian people

• US had claimed talks over regime change in troubled nation

It was claimed yesterday by the US State Department that Russia and Washington “are continuing to talk about a post-Assad transition strategy.”

But Sergey Lavrov said today that Russia believes it is up to the Syrians to determine their future and that foreign players should not meddle.

“It’s not true that we are discussing Syria’s fate after Bashar Assad,” Lavrov said. “We aren’t dealing with a regime change either through approving unilateral actions at the United Nations Security Council nor through taking part in some political conspiracies.”

He said an international conference on Syria that Russia has proposed should focus on persuading the Syrian parties to sit down for talks. He added that Russia is opposing any attempts to use the conference to predetermine Syria’s future.

“This meeting should be aimed at mobilizing resources that foreign players have to create conditions needed to start an all-Syrian political process, not to predetermine its direction.”

He warned against using the conference to “justify any future unilateral actions.”