Lavrov doubts the West will bring the Syrian opposition to the negotiations

October 2, 2013 • 5:29PM

Speaking at a conference in Moscow today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed doubts the West will be successful in getting the Syrian opposition to take part in the Geneva II peace conference, which he expects to take place in mid-November. On Oct 1, at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Nabil Fahmy, Lavrov had pointed out that it is now the time not to convince the Syrian opposition of the need to sit at the negotiation table, "but to force them to do so."

It is evident that the West is showing no exigency to start the talks and, as Lavrov noted today, that while this drags on, "the radical, Jihadist elements of the opposition, like Al-Nusra Front and others, are gaining in strength."

Meanwhile, Voice of Russia reports that the Syrian opposition coalition says it will participate in a Geneva II conference on only one condition: the leading Arab countries guarantee the formation of an interim government after the conference, according to the coalition's foreign relations coordinator.

Also, Russia announced today it will carry out its own investigation into chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Moscow wanted to establish who was behind the August poison attack, and criticized Western governments for pinning the blame on Syrian President Bashar Assad even before the arrival of UN inspectors in Syria. The UN had previously said the team would inspect seven possible sites of alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, but Ake Sellstrom, head of the UN team, said his group did not have enough time to visit them all.