Eurasia Press & News
The United States welcomes the Syrian Coalition’s decision to participate in the Geneva II conference, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday night.
“This is a significant step forward in the process to convene the Geneva conference, the goal of which is the full implementation of the Geneva Communique and establishing by mutual consent of the two negotiating delegations a transitional governing body exercising full executive powers,” she said, adding that “Negotiations represent the best opportunity to end the bloodshed.” The United States also welcomed the inclusion of representatives of the Kurdish National Coalition within the Syrian Coalition, ensuring the Coalition was more inclusive of Syria’s diversity, she said.
“Participation by a representative body of the moderate opposition at a Geneva conference, political and armed, is not only essential to moving toward a political transition, but to the future of all Syrians,” she added.
The Coalition cited the need for progress on humanitarian issues ahead of a Geneva II meeting, notably permitting humanitarian access to besieged areas and the release of female and child prisoners, Psaki noted.
“The United States echoes the calls by humanitarian organizations for the Syrian government and other parties to the conflict to facilitate humanitarian access to all those in need, including the Damascus suburbs of Muadhamiyah and eastern Ghouta and the region of Homs,” she said.
