Top Russian MP to Visit Syria Next Week for Talks on Crisis
The head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee is to visit Syria next week for talks with its leadership amid concern over the growing bloodshed, he announced on Thursday.
Alexei Pushkov, the head of the international affairs committee of the State Duma lower house, told the Interfax news agency that his visit was aimed at reporting back to parliament about the situation inside the country.
"Next week I will fly to Damascus to study the development of the situation on the ground," he said.
The visit by Pushkov, a member of the ruling United Russia party and former television commentator, comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Damascus earlier this month with President Bashar al-Assad.
A pledge by Assad to Lavrov to halt violence was met with skepticism by the West, which is furious at Russia for blocking a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian regime.
Source: Agence France Presse
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