MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The exact date of the intra-Syrian talks has not yet been formally announced, but is planned for the third week in January.
"There will be a dialogue between the two delegations of government and opposition in Geneva, everything they can agree on is not obligatory for the Syrian people, what is obligatory is what the people will choose in a referendum. Therefore, the results of the dialogue must be brought to a referendum," Mouhammad Heir Akkam said.
The political atmosphere of the upcoming round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition differs greatly from the previous negotiations due to the emergence of Russian-Syrian cooperation:
"The political atmosphere in which Geneva-3 will take place differs radically from Geneva-2, this is due to the effective Syrian-Russian cooperation," Mouhammad Heir Akkam said.
According to Akkam, the cooperation between Russia and Syria takes place in the spheres of the fight against terrorism and the United Nations resolutions.
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Syrian settlement, which reaffirmed the goals of the Vienna agreements to bring the entire spectrum of the political groups in the crisis-torn country to the negotiating table and stated that the next round of the talks would take place in January, 2016.
The West and several countries of the region have long called for resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad, despite his victory in the 2014 elections.
Russia has repeatedly stressed that the people of Syria must be the ones to choose their own destiny.
