Moscow to become site for intra-Syrian dialogue for second time

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. The second round of intra-Syrian consultations is opening in the Russian capital Moscow Monday and will last until April 9.

The Moscow meetings reflect "Russia’s consistent viewpoint that the Syrian conflict may only be settled by political and diplomatic means," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Unlike "Moscow-1" [January 26-29], this round’s agenda has been approved.

The January 26-29 meetings were followed by the publication of the "Moscow principles", which in particular included Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, counteraction to terrorism and inadmissibility of outside interference. Shortly before the April round, the points have often been announced by Syrian officials.

According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.

An international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States and designed to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis, held in January and February 2014, brought no particular progress.