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Syria's rebels deny reports of meeting with Russian officials

Xinhua, November 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 49 rebel groups with the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) released a statement on Friday denying reports about an imminent meeting between FSA representatives and Russian officials in the United Arab Emirates.

The FSA groups totally dismissed recent reports that their representatives are going to meet with the defense and foreign ministers of Russia next week in UAE's city of Abu Dhabi.

"It's impossible for us to sit with the Russians amidst their occupation of Syria and their targeting of civilians, hospitals and the positions of the Free Syrian Army," read the statement.

Earlier Thursday, reports were circulated that the FSA has agreed to meet with Russian officials in UAE next week.

The news came weeks after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow was ready to help FSA rebels if they fight against militants of the Islamic State group.

Lavrov said the Russian air force could support the FSA, an offer which was turned down at the time by the FSA.

Late last month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Russia maintains contacts with Western-backed rebels in Syria, confirming that some FSA representatives had already visited Moscow, as part of Russian efforts to push for a dialogue in Syria in tandem with its airstrikes there.

"Someone is arriving; someone is leaving; all of them are saying that they are representatives of the Free Syrian Army," Bogdanov said on Oct. 26.

The FSA, a loose alliance of rebel groups portraying themselves as moderates, has repeatedly accused Moscow of attacking its positions inside Syria and rendering support to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

On Oct. 6, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all Russian actions in Syria aim for a political settlement of the Syrian conflicts.

"The political track and political settlement is the final objective of all the actions of Russia," Peskov said. "This is also certainly the only possible goal of the whole international community as well as the Syrian leadership." Endit