Moscow calls for global support to peace conference in Sochi

MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russia calls on the international community to offer all possible assistance to Syrian National Dialogue Congress -- a peace conference being held in Moscow, local media reported Wednesday.

"Syrians still have a long and difficult way to go, because most complicated tasks are yet to be solved. The international community need(s) to provide all possible support to those efforts," TASS news agency quoted Alexander Lavrentyev, the Russian presidential envoy for Syrian settlement, as saying.

The Syrian peace talks began Monday in the Russian city of Sochi. Around 1,600 figures were invited by Moscow as part of the Russian efforts to advance a political solution to end Syria's seven-year war.

Lavrentyev also said the Sochi event as well as its outcomes will give impetus to the Geneva platform, and Russia is ready to further provide all possible assistance in solving the complicated tasks.

In a joint address, the participants of the congress expressed their wishes for help from international community to ensure the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to Syria and to help the country reintegrate into the global community.

The Russian-sponsored Sochi conference is deemed as a supporting political track to the Geneva peace talks, which has yet so far failed to reach a settlement of the Syrian crisis. Enditem