Russia said Thursday it regretted the suspension of Syrian peace talks and expressed hope the negotiations could continue after the West accused Moscow of seeking a military solution to the war.
“One can express regret in this regard but no one expected that everything will be simple and quick,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
He said that the Kremlin hoped that it would “soon” become clear when and how the talks would resume.
“It is unlikely that someone expected immediate results from the first round. This would probably be short-sighted,” Peskov said.
“Of course it is obvious that moving forward will be difficult and we are hoping that the break will be followed by another round of these truly difficult talks.”
UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura announced Wednesday the suspension of peace talks to end Syria’s civil war as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime secured a major battlefield victory against rebels and Russia vowed no let-up in air strikes.
The United States and France condemned the Russian bombing around Syria’s second city of Aleppo.
The Syrian opposition has been outraged by Moscow’s determination to press ahead with its bombing campaign during peace talks and accused Russia of targeting civilians.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that air strikes would continue until “terrorist organisations” including the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria are defeated.
Russia’s defence ministry said earlier that a military adviser had been killed in Syria by IS shelling.
Peskov confirmed his death but said the Kremlin would not disclose his name.
