Damascus: Syria, Russia foreign ministers set Moscow talks

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem will meet in Moscow Friday for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, an advisor to Syria's president told AFP.

"We will have an exchange of views on the Vienna meeting and the current situation," said Buthaina Shaaban, who will form part of the Syrian delegation arriving in Moscow Wednesday.

Those talks follow an agreement among world powers in Vienna on an 18-month plan for Syria to create a transitional government, adopt a new constitution and hold new elections.

The Vienna discussions did not include Syrian regime or opposition representation, but backers of both sides participated.

Shaaban said government allies Russia and Iran were working in the best interests of the Syrian people.

"Russia and Iran are trying their best to bring the West in to understand what's going on in Syria but the West doesn't have the Syrian people as its top priority," she said.

"The Russians definitively understand what's going on in Syria. They are definitively serious and honest, when they say something they implement it," she added.

Moscow has been a staunch ally of President Bashar al-Assad since the outset of the uprising against his government, which began with demonstrations in March 2011.

It launched air strikes in support of his forces on September 30. Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border on Tuesday, saying the plane violated its airspace and had been warned.
Source: AFP