Russia, Syria determined to hold Geneva-II as scheduled: Lavrov

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Moscow and Damascus believed no one could undermine the peace conference on Syria scheduled for later this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

Speaking to reporters after his talks with visiting Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, Lavrov expressed Moscow's concern Syrian opposition group the National Coalition might attempt to delay the peace conference, known as Geneva-II, due to internal arguments.

"This goes beyond any reasonable (behavior)," he said.

Moscow was also worried the opposition still had not received a formal invitation to attend the conference, Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, Lavrov said he believed Damascus would demonstrate political will and restraint and would not let anyone undermine the conference scheduled for Jan. 22 in Montreux, Switzerland.

Al-Moallem confirmed the Syrian government would not let the conference be undermined, and accused the United States of supporting terrorist groups operating in Syria.

"How may the U.S. condemn terrorism in Iraq, while supporting the same terrorists in Syria. This is an anti-Syrian conspiracy," al-Moallem said.

Lavrov said Russia would continue humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees inside and outside Syria, but added practical humanitarian operations required coordination with Syrian opposition groups as well.

He said the attempts to use humanitarian issues for justification of "humanitarian intervention" in Syria were unacceptable and the attempts would undermine the Geneva-II conference.

Moscow and Damascus reconfirmed their determination to implement the chemical disarmament of Syria according to the agreed schedule.

"We agreed and confirmed to obey the coordinated timing of implementation of the task set, with providing security and solving logistic issues," Lavrov told reporters. Endi

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