FRANCE: Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirms Russia will not attend Friends of Syria meeting in Paris this week but German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle says dialogue must be maintained with Moscow

Record ID: 281023

  • Title: FRANCE: Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirms Russia will not attend Friends of Syria meeting in Paris this week but German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle says dialogue must be maintained with Moscow
  • Date: 4th July 2012
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 3, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER LAURENT FABIUS AND GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER GUIDO WESTERWELLE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER LAURENT FABIUS SAYING: "Russia was invited to the meeting on Friday, but it has let us know -- but it can always change its mind - that it did not want to participate, which is
  • Embargoed: 19th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABWDSQYYJ9AOCLK1XOHXBFO7CY
  • Story Text: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday (July 3) confirmed that Russia will not be attending a meeting between Syrian opposition leaders and their Western backers in Paris this week, but his German counterpart called for dialogue with Moscow.
    Westerwelle, in Paris ahead of the key meeting, said he would fly to Moscow on Thursday to try and convince the Russian government to 'put itself on the right side of history.'
    "The acts committed by President Assad and his regime are unforgivable. We know that his rule is over, that it must end. But that must not stop us from working now on the following phase and on an alternative. Otherwise the whole region would catch fire and the consequences would be even worse," Westerwelle told reporters Fabius said Russia's absence from Friday's meeting in Paris was not a surprise.

    "But it can always change its mind," he said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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