Proposals to set date for Syria conference "premature:" Russia

MOSCOW, May 24 (Xinhua) -- It is premature to set an exact date for an international conference on Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

"The demands to set up exact date of the conference immediately, without making it clear who will represent the opposition, cannot be taken seriously," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.

He noted that results of the opposition's recent gathering in Madrid and Amman were disappointing.

"We'd like to believe that during the upcoming meetings of the opposition, including the ongoing Istanbul conference of the National Coalition, constructive approaches will prevail," Lukashevich said.

Moscow has been disappointed with the results of the Istanbul meeting so far, Lukashevich said.

"They again put a pre-condition for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, offered to establish some government under the UN auspices. All in all, they do everything to hollow the idea of the (proposed new) conference, to strike out the Geneva communique," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Moscow hopes the Syrian opposition would respect the Russia-U.S. agreements over the new international conference aimed at implementing the Geneva communique, Lukashevich said.

He praised the Syrian government and several opposition groups for their positive attitude toward the agreements.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week called the reaction of the Syrian opposition to the proposed international conference on the prolonged Syrian crisis "discouraging."

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