Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) welcomes Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad during a meeting in Moscow, on May 22, 2013.<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the Syrian government’s response to proposed peace talks is constructive.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe value the constructive reaction of the Syrian leadership to this proposal,\u201d Lavrov said on Wednesday in a meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Moscow.\n<\/p>\n
For his part, Mekdad said that Damascus will soon decide on whether to take part in the upcoming international peace conference due to be held in Geneva in June.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe are still discussing this question. A final decision will be taken after our return to Damascus,\u201d Mekdad stated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said on Tuesday that the Syrian government and the opposition are preparing to take part in the peace conference.<\/p>\n
Brahimi said both the Damascus government and the opposition will take part in the talks in a bid to help resolve the conflict in Syria.\n<\/p>\n
The first Geneva talks, which were presided over by former mediator Kofi Annan last June, called for a political process to end the crisis in Syria.\n<\/p>\n
The crisis in Syria began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.\n<\/p>\n
The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.\n<\/p>\n
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