MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned over the fact that the US-led coalition has so far failed to develop common understanding on the lists of terrorists and the opposition in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

The work on compiling the lists of terrorists and the opposition in Syria is going slower than it was expected in Vienna, which hinders progress, she said.

According to her, “The work on the two lists – both on the list of the opposition, which could be represented at the negotiations with Damascus, and on the list of terrorists – is conducted not at the pace that was expected after the Vienna meetings,” she said.

“And of course, the quality of this work also cannot be considered fully satisfactory.” The ministry official also said that these two lists are the key elements for the Syrian peace process and “no progress is possible without them.”

“I have said that there is chaos in the ranks of the [US-led] coalition. One of the reasons for this is the absence of common understanding on the key questions: who represents the light forces and who represents the dark forces,” she said. “The coalition countries often have opposing views on these issues.”

“We hope that all the parties will exert the appropriate efforts to compile these two lists.”

The diplomat also said that Russia has a clear-cut position and understanding on both lists. “We for our part were among the first to do ‘the homework’ and handed our arguments to the colleagues,” she said.

“Alarmingly, there is no clearness and commonality of approaches within the coalition,” the diplomat said.

According to her, principal differences on the lists of terrorists and the opposition in Syria persist within the US-led coalition.

“Initially, we were even shocked when during the first pre-Vienna discussions it became clear that there is no common understanding within one and the same coalition, now acting from a position of strength, on the targets for their strikes, on who are representatives of the terrorists, and who are representatives of the moderate opposition,” she said.

“There is no common understanding among the countries, united in one coalition, so, unfortunately, as we understand from our contacts, fundamental differences still persist.”

 

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