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Sergei Lavrov

MOSCOW. — Russia’s foreign minister has accused the United States of using peace talks to seek “regime change” in Syria.
Speaking in Moscow yesterday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the issue of a transitional government, a key focus for opposition negotiators, must not dominate the talks in Switzerland.
“We have an impression that those backing the opposition in this process… had in mind only one thing, regime change,” Lavrov said, noting the talks were “going in circles.”

His comments came a day after senior US and Russian officials met in the Swiss city with UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, in an effort to save faltering talks between the Syrian government and opposition. Brahimi was meeting separately with Syria’s warring sides yesterday. Lavrov’s deputy Gennady Gatilov has also waded into the fray, saying Syria’s government would discuss the creation of a transitional governing body if the opposition officially declared its commitment to join the fight against “terrorism”. — Al Jazeera.