Russia sees US as observer for Syrian Dialogue Congress in Sochi

Moscow expects the US to participate in the upcoming Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi as an observer, Special Presidential Envoy to Syria Aleksandr Lavrentiev said on Saturday. The UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura is also expected to take part in the meeting. A draft list of the people to participate in the Congress is ready, but it will take a couple of days to finalize it, according to Lavrentiev. “The Congress’ participants will receive invitations after that and their arrival will be ensured,” he said. Russian officials met their Turkish and Iranian colleagues in Sochi on January 19-20 to discuss the preparation of the Congress, scheduled for late January. “Several procedural issues have been raised during the meeting today, but there’s been no miscommunication between the representatives of all the three delegations. We all believe that the Congress is an event of the utmost importance,” Lavrentiev stressed.