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.



Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday.

The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.