Moscow accuses Syrian opposition of ‘sabotaging’ talks

Russia on Thursday accused Syria’s main opposition group of “sabotaging” stumbling UN-led Syrian peace talks in Geneva.

“The results of the first days of the intra-Syrian dialogues, as before, raise questions over the ability of the Syrian opposition representatives to reach a deal,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Zakharova said the refusal of the main opposition High Negotiating Committee (HNC) to cooperate on an equal footing with two Russian-backed groups meant that it was “de facto sabotaging the full dialogue with both the Syrian government delegation and with other opposition groups”.

Syrian regime and opposition negotiators have been in Geneva since last Thursday, but there have been no face-to-face talks, as UN mediator Staffan de Mistura shuttles between the delegations.

The talks are expected to wrap up either Friday or this weekend, with little concrete progress to announce.

Moscow is one of the main backer of the Syrian regime and is flying a bombing campaign to back up the forces of Bashar al-Assad.