Moscow: Assad Remaining in Power Condition for Attending Sochi Congress

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Bashar Assad in Sochi in November. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Bashar Assad in Sochi in November. (Reuters)
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Moscow: Assad Remaining in Power Condition for Attending Sochi Congress

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Bashar Assad in Sochi in November. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Bashar Assad in Sochi in November. (Reuters)

Russia’s Foreign Ministry affirmed that the work is ongoing to determine the list of participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress that will be held in Sochi in late January 2018.

Moscow has meanwhile set a condition that the opposition abandon its demand that regime head Bashar Assad leave power.

Aleksandr Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy on Syria, said that if the opposition wants to attend Sochi to reiterate its rejection that Assad remain in power, then there is no place for it there.

He attributed this position to his belief that those who insist on Assad leaving his position support the continuation of the conflict.

He stressed however that the Syrian regime must approve the constitutional committee, and highlighted how important it was that the Syrian National Dialogue Congress take place under the auspices of the United Nations.

The congress will include representatives from all categories of the Syrian people, granting the conference a legality to form a constitutional committee that drafts a constitution which elections will be based upon.

Russian President's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said: “I think a constitutional committee will be formed and enjoy a general mandate from the people.”

“We will call on all Syrian participants in the Astana and Geneva processes,” he added, stressing that the lists of participants in the Sochi congress are currently being prepared while taking into account the stances of the guarantor states.



Starmer: Britain Moving Jets to Middle East to Support Regional Security

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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Starmer: Britain Moving Jets to Middle East to Support Regional Security

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain is moving additional military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East to provide support across the region, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Saturday as he was en route to a Group of Seven meeting in Canada.

Iran and Israel traded missiles and airstrikes on Saturday, the day after Israel launched an air offensive against its old enemy, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.

"We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support in the region," Starmer said.

Britain already has fighter jets in the Middle East as part of an operation to counter threats in Iraq and Syria.

Crews began deployment preparations on Friday morning, when it was clear the situation in the region was deteriorating, a spokesperson for the prime minister said.

Further refueling aircraft from British bases have been deployed, and additional fighter jets will be sent, the spokesperson added.

Iran warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran's strikes on Israel, Iran state media reported Saturday.