YAROSLAVL, Russia (AP) — A Russian envoy says he will meet with both sides in the Syrian conflict to help broker a political settlement that would keep President Bashar Assad in power.
Mikhael Margelov says he will meet Friday in Moscow with representatives of Syria’s opposition, and then on Monday with Syrian presidential envoy Buthaina Shaaban.
Margelov, a Russian presidential envoy to the region, told journalists Thursday that Moscow is trying to convince both sides that the chance for dialogue is not yet lost.
Russia opposes a draft U.N. Security Council resolution backed by several European nations and the United States that would impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Syria aimed at stopping the government’s crackdown on opposition protesters there.
