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Regional, global players handed invites to Syria talks in Sochi - Russian FM

MOSCOW, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- Russia, Iran and Turkey, who are co-organising upcoming Syrian peace talks have sent invitations to regional and global players for the Sochi-hosted meeting next week, Russia's foreign minister said on Monday.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, during talks with Syrian opposition leader Nasr Al-Hariri in Moscow, that the influential countries would play an important role in bridging viewpoints at the January 29-30 meeting.
Lavrov said he was confident that major understandings, regarding constitutional reform and United Nations-administered elections, would be reached if all Syrian sides were to commit to Security Council resolution 2254.
After recent talks in Astana helped establish a reduction of tensions zone, he anticipated the upcoming meeting to unite efforts aimed at eliminating terrorism on Syrian soil.
The meeting would supplement UN-backed in Geneva talks on the matter in December last year, the minister added.
Separately, he accused Washington of protecting Al-Nusra Front militants in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib, saying Russia was worried about this.
For his part, Al-Hariri said the opposition had not yet decided whether it would be attending the Sochi meeting, but he did confirm its attendance of two-day peace talks in Vienna on Thursday. (end) as.sd