MOSCOW
Syrian Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs Walid al-Mualem on Monday announced that the Damascus government was ready to hold talks with the opposition inclusive of the armed groups.
"We are ready for dialogue with everyone who wants it ... Even with those who have weapons in their hands. Because we believe that reforms will not come through bloodshed but only through dialogue," the minister said during a visit to Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Stating that Moscow called on the Damascus government to continue dialogue despite the provocations, Lavrov said that there was no other alternative than the political solution via dialogue to resolve the crisis between the Syrian regime and the opposition.
In separate remarks from the Syrian regime on Monday, Information Minister Umran Ahid al-Za'bi said the Syrian government called on "all opposition groups without exception" to engage in dialogue.
"Syria is ready for serious and conclusive dialogue with all opposition forces in the country and abroad, including armed groups that stop violence," al-Za'bi told the official SANA news agency.
