Moscow - Russia's Middle East envoy on Friday called on the international community not to take sides in Syria's internal violence.
Mikhail Margelov, President Dmitry Medvedev's special envoy to the region, also highlighted the need to avoid “a repeat of the mistakes in Iraq”.
“The problem is, it is not clear what exactly will come with a new regime,” said Mikhail Margelov, President Dmitry Medvedev's special envoy for Middle Eastern affairs.
Russia supports a compromise between the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the country's opposition as the best way to end violence and, Margelov said, to guarantee future stability in the country.
He made the comments to the Intefax news agency as representatives of the Syrian opposition were scheduled to arrive in Moscow for talks.
The Syrian delegation included Kurdish community leaders, tribal chiefs, politicians and representatives of the Islamic Brotherhood according to media reports.
The Kremlin's goal for the talks was to make clear Moscow's view on how to end violence in Syria and to create a new political system in the country while maintaining the peace, Margelov said.
A similar meeting “exchanging frank views” with representatives of al-Assad's government will take place in Moscow on September 11, he said.
Russia will condone neither a UN resolution authorising the use of force in Syria, nor an outright replacement of the government with one made up only of Syria's current opposition, Margelov said, reiterating Russia's position on Syria.
Russia as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council has the ability to veto a UN mandate on the use force, as well as invoke substantial sanctions against a country.
Syrian opposition officials have repeatedly called on Russia to give the UN a go-ahead to invoke strong sanctions against the government to bring to an end the crackdown by security forces on protesters.
“We want Russia to stop protecting the Assad regime, in the political, international and military sense,” Mahmud Hamza, a senior Syrian opposition official, said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant magazine.
“The Assad regime needs to be isolated.” - Sapa-dpa