Syrian opposition leaders meeting in Moscow before talks with Damascus

(RUDAW) - Syrian opposition leaders meet in Moscow today for preliminary talks, before they are joined by a delegation from Damascus later this week.

A number of opposition leaders from inside and outside Syria have traveled to Moscow to attend a Russia-sponsored initiative on seeking a peaceful solution for the war in Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualim and Syrian ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaffari are expected to join the gathering on Wednesday.

The Syrian Opposition Coalition has boycotted the meeting and refused to recognize any leaders outside the coalition as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people.

The official Syrian news agency SANA reported last month that Damascus welcomes the initiative in Moscow “to respond to the aspiration of Syrians who are trying to find a solution to the crisis.”

Today’s meetings is said to take place inside the Russian foreign ministry and headed by Vitaly Numkin, head of the Institute for Eastern Studies.

Salih Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which runs three autonomous cantons in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), is also in Moscow to attend today’s meeting.

Russia is one of the main backers of the Syrian government alongside Iran. Moscow has stood by Damascus at the United Nations, including vetoing military intervention by the United States.

In a shift of policy from calling for the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, the US has also backed the Moscow talks.

The meeting in Moscow is a continuation of a meeting in Cairo earlier month between Syrian opposition leaders who discussed a possible transition to democracy in Syria.