Remarks by the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura before meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Statements and Speeches
SE: Thank you, thank you very much. Well, I confirm this is a very good and timely moment for having this type of consultations - because we are clearly moving from the period of de-escalation into almost - and we hope forever - defeating terrorism, as defined by the UN.
Now it is the moment for the political process, to pick it up, and actually find a way to make it sustainable for the future of Syria.
I am very much interested in your [the Russian Federation's] position at the moment - because you obviously have ideas, and we have ideas too, and we need to see how those ideas can be constructively combined.
And I am going from here to New York. I will consult the Secretary-General on Monday, and then on [Thursday] there will be a meeting of the Security Council on Syria. That will be an opportunity also for me to consult them on any possible ideas on how to move on the political process.
We are clearly determined to launch the Geneva negotiations - I hope not only talks - and certainly in November, so that all this can fit into the future approach for the Syrians - and you are right, it should be done by the Syrians, but we need to help.
