MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – The Syrian peace process is in jeopardy as key mediators Russia and the United States are at loggerheads over the Ukrainian crisis, the leader of the Syrian opposition told the Voice of Russia radio station Tuesday.
“The situation in Ukraine has also affected the Syrian crisis, unfortunately. The US-Russia dialogue on Syria aggravated. It will be now more difficult for Russia and the US to reach an accord,” said Hassan Abdul Azim, the general coordinator of the National Coordination Committee.
“Meanwhile, the Syrian people keep shedding their blood and the war with all its grief and destruction continues,” he added.
As the civil war in Syria that has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people rampages into its fourth year, the country is bracing for a presidential election slated for June 3.
On Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad indicated he would run for re-election and had already submitted his candidacy application.
There are currently six candidates that will fight for the presidency with the incumbent leader.
Many believed that Abdul Azim could give President Assad a run for his money in the upcoming vote, but the opposition leader confirmed in his interview with the Voice of Russia that he had refused to run for president.
“Some of my colleagues asked me to stand as a candidate in the presidential election. But I firmly refused,” Abdul Azam said, adding that the only thing his country needs right now is negotiations.
“Our stance is, let me repeat it once again, that we should resume the Geneva negotiations. This is the only possible way to find a peaceful solution that could stop the violence in Syria. This is the only way to bring back all our refugees, to free the detained. The agreements reached earlier in Geneva should be the basis for negotiations,” the opposition leader said.
The first two rounds of the Geneva II conference took place in late January and early February, but ended with little progress. Representatives of the two warring sides in the conflict agreed to come to the negotiating table for the first time, but failed to bridge the gap in their positions.
Russia and the United States were key players in supporting the dialogue aimed at bringing the war in Syria to a negotiated conclusion.
In the wake of growing tensions over Ukraine, however, the Syrian issue has been put on the back burner as Moscow and Washington refuse to see eye-to-eye on the situation.
On Monday, the United States unveiled a new batch of sanctions against seven individual Russians and 17 Russian companies in response to what the West claims was Russia’s failure to comply with the Geneva communique on Ukraine.
Abdul Azam said that sanctions against Russia are a grave mistake on the part of the United States and will not severely impact Russia.
“America and Western countries in general are making a mistake. They are trying to play political games in Russia’s back yard. And they did not even pay attention to the results of the Crimean referendum which was the clear manifestation of people’s free will,” Azam said.
“From the very beginning, the US tried to confront two parts of Ukraine’s citizens. Nevertheless we are sure that Russia will come out a winner as its position is based not on political games but on the interests of ordinary people,” he added.
