West wants to predetermine outcome of talks on Syria: Lavrov

    "Among some of our Western colleagues, there is a desire to narrow the circle of external participants and begin the process from a very small group of countries in a framework which, in essence, would predetermine the negotiating teams, agenda, and maybe even the outcome of talks," Lavrov said in an interview posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Thursday.
 
 
Lavrov said the Islamic Republic of Iran must participate in the conference that was proposed by Moscow and Washington last week.
 
The Islamic Republic has welcomed the proposal and expressed optimism that Tehran would be a part of the peace process.
 
Earlier this week, the top Russian diplomat accused the United States of seeking to increase the participation of countries which have been supporting foreign-backed militants in Syria.
 
Washington and Moscow renewed their calls for a political solution to the Syrian crisis last week. Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry also agreed in Moscow to hold an international peace conference to follow-up on the June 2012 Geneva communiqué, which outlines measures for a peaceful transition of power in Syria.
 
The June 2012 meeting on Syria was hosted by the United Nations in Geneva under former UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan.
 
On Monday, the US and Britain said they had found common ground with Russia on how to proceed on Syria.
 
At a meeting in Washington, US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to make diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
 
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
 
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
 
In an interview broadcast on Turkish television on April 5, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.
 
“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he stated.