Representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition have agreed to hold direct talks following discussions at an international summit in Switzerland, according to Russia’s foreign minister.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the rival delegations, which traded verbal blows at the start of the discussions on Wednesday morning, would sit down for direct talks on Friday and start with confidence-building measures in an effort to end three years of civil war.
But UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, who is meeting both Syrian delegations separately on Thursday, said it was not yet clear if he would be able to bring the two sides together at the United Nations in Geneva the following day.
“We will try to see if we meet Friday morning separately and hopefully by Friday afternoon both sides will sit in one room,” he said.
But others were much less upbeat.
“It’s very far from encouraging,” said a French diplomatic source. “We have the impression the regime has come to Geneva to ensure it fails.”
Mr Lavrov, who held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Jarba on Wednesday, urged the opposition and its foreign backers not to focus exclusively on leadership change in Damascus.
At the talks in Montreux, Mr Jarba demanded the Syrian government delegation sign up to an international plan for handing over power. But Mr Moualem insisted President Bashar al-Assad would not bow to outside demands to step down.
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The UN, Moscow and Washington are pushing for a prisoner swap in Syria and ceasefires in the northern city of Aleppo and central city of Homs.
“The relatively less difficult issues are confidence-building measures, humanitarian aid, prisoner swaps and, through this, some sort of relations between the two delegations should be created,” Mr Lavrov said.
Mr Brahimi said: “We have had some fairly clear indications that the parties are willing to discuss issues of access to needy people, the liberation of prisoners and local ceasefires.”
Mr Lavrov said the so-called Geneva II conference in Montreux went as expected and hailed as a breakthrough the first time the Syrian government and opposition delegations had sat at the same table.
Mr Muallem also clashed with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon after speaking for longer than his allotted time slot.
When Mr Ban attempted to bring his speech to an end, Mr Muallem told him: “You live in New York. I live in Syria, I have the right to give the Syrian version here. After three years of suffering, this is my right.”
The Syrian civil war has claimed 130,000 lives, made millions homeless and spilled over into neighbouring countries.
Rebel forces, boosted by fighters from other countries, including Britain, are battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which is backed by Iran and has been accused of war crimes.
The US and Britain are calling for President Assad’s removal, but Mr Muallem said: “Nobody in this world has a right to withdraw legitimacy from a president or government … other than the Syrians themselves.”
Speaking at the talks, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton drew attention to the lack of female representation, saying women “from across the divide” must be part of the process.