Draft Of Sochi Statement Urges Lifting Of Syria Sanctions
A draft of the final statement of an upcoming congress in Sochi on the settlement of the Syria crisis calls for an end to the war in Syria and lifting of the unilateral sanctions on the Damascus government without any political preconditions.
The resolution, obtained by media on Sunday, calls for efforts to start the reconstruction of Syria and allow the refugees to return home, without linking those initiatives to any political issues.
The Syrian National Dialogue Congress, expected to kick off on January 29 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, is going to be attended by some 1,600 participants.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also send his Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to the event.
The Sochi meeting is part of a push by Moscow, Tehran and Ankara to end the crisis in Syria.
Diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Syria gained momentum in 2017 with the announcement of a ceasefire in the Arab country in early January.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
On November 19, Daesh (ISIL) terrorists were flushed out of their last stronghold in Syria’s Al-Bukamal. The city’s liberation marked an end to the self-proclaimed caliphate the group had declared in 2014.
