MOSCOW,— The United States needs to bring its Turkish partners to their senses, who are still blocking the participation of Kurds in the intra-Syrian talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow Monday.

“The main task here [at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva] right now, and this is no secret and we’ve always said this, is the provision of an actual representative opposition delegation. This presupposes for our American partners to simply bring their Turkish allies to their senses who continue to single-handedly block the delegation from the Kurdish Democratic Union Party from joining the negotiations.”

The United States is not influencing the Syrian opposition to withdraw from the battle zone despite its promises to do so, Lavrov said.

“The Americans have assured us many times over that they are doing this, that they’ll use their influence on the moderate opposition so that they withdraw their troops from these regions [where terrorists are fighting] so as not to create any difficulties in the collective fight against al-Nusra Front. These promises still remain unfulfilled.”

Russian Ambassador to Syria Alexander Kinshchak told TASS on Sunday that the veto on the Kurdish Democratic Union Party’s participation in the intra-Syrian talks originates from Turkey which is capable of breaking down the dialogue in Geneva in case the Kurds are ultimately invited.

The Kurds were excluded from the new round of intra-Syrian talks which resumed in Geneva on April 13.

On March 17, 2016 Kurdish parties, including the powerful Democratic Union Party (PYD) and their allies, announced the creation of a “federal system” in Syrian Kurdistan. Both the Syrian government and an opposition coalition have rejected the announcement.

The powerful Kurdish forces of People’s Protection Units YPG in Syrian Kurdistan, which the U.S. and Russia consider an ally in the fight against Islamic State, are the most effective group fighting IS in Syria, as the Kurdish militia has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State.

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