WarSclerotic

US, Russian officials: Syria peace conference in June | The Times of Israel.

Kerry says ‘enormous plans are being laid’ for bid to negotiate political transition, warns Assad not to make more ‘gross miscalculations’

By Times of Israel staff and AP May 15, 2013, 9:27

US Secretary of State John Kerry (back to camera) speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (photo credit: AP)

Russia and the US are aiming to hold their joint peace conference, which would bring together Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition members, to negotiate a peaceful political transition and bring about an end to the bloody Syrian conflict, in June, AFP reported early Wednesday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Assad that “enormous plans are being laid” for the peace drive and warned him not to miss these opportunities. Kerry was speaking in Sweden where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of talks surrounding the Arctic region.

“If he decides not to come to the table, it would be another one of President [Bashar] Assad’s gross miscalculations,” Reuters quoted Kerry as telling reporters during the visit.

Kerry said that Lavrov “already given him the names of people who will negotiate.”

The US secretary of state also said the exact timing was up to the United Nations, but he expected the conference to be underway by early June.

It is not yet known where the conference will be held, with some anticipating that Geneva, where the first round of talks was held last year, could be the venue.

Washington and Moscow called last week for an international conference to bring representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition to the negotiating table with the aim of setting up a transitional government and a ceasefire. The US and Russia back opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, and the diplomatic push marks the countries’ first serious joint attempt to resolve the crisis in a year.

The Syrian government on Tuesday said it wanted more details before deciding whether to take part in the proposed US-Russian initiative, the country’s information minister said, staking out a similar position to the main opposition group.

Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in an interview late Monday with Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV — excerpts of which were published Tuesday by the Syrian state news agency — that the government’s participation in the proposed talks “depends on knowing the details and developments.”

But Zoubi stressed that Damascus will not take part in any political dialogue that infringes on the country’s sovereignty, and stressed that the president, constitution and the form of political system are among the sovereign matters and will be only decided by the “Syrian people and ballot boxes.”

“Syria’s political decision is clear, which is to go toward a political solution and support positive international efforts while fighting terrorism at the same time,” he said.

The two-year-long Syrian civil war has claimed the lives of over 80,000 people, according to opposition estimates, and has been marked by sectarian fighting including gruesome massacres of women and children.

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