UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon has said an international peace conference where government and opposition forces will be represented, should happen as soon as possible for Syria, Ban Ki-moon said when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Friday.
Ban’s trip and a recent visit to Sochi by British Prime Minister David Cameron follow Putin’s early May talks in Moscow with US Secretary of State John Kerry, during which the two sides agreed to set up a new round of Syria negotiations within a matter of weeks.
At a press conference with Lavrov, Ban said: “We should not lose the momentum,” generated by the US-Russian proposal to bring the Syrian government and opposition representatives to a peace conference.
Ban said the conference should be held as soon as possible, but added that no date had yet been agreed.
Lavrov said: “The sooner this conference is held, the better … the key thing now is who is ready to take part on the Syrian side.”
Ban is also due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as global pressure grows on Moscow to end arms supplies to the Syrian regime and drop its support for President Bashar al-Assad.
Elsewhere, Ban used the visit to renew a call on Damascus to allow UN experts in to assess claims over alleged chemical weapons use.
Lavrov called alleged chemical weapons use “a serious problem” and supported the call for an investigation.
The international meeting – now expected to take place in Geneva in early June – hopes to build on a failed June 2012 peace initiative that called for the quick creation of a transitional government but defined no clear role for Assad.
