The formation of the Syrian opposition delegation at the conference in Riyadh as well as the statement of Russian, Iranian and Turkish leaders in Sochi represent an important milestone  for the successful talks in Geneva, said the statement by the current High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

According to the statement, “the opposition now has a unified delegation willing to negotiate without preconditions on the agenda set by the UN. The strengthening of women's participation in the opposition delegation is a critical step. This, together with the statement of the three Astana guarantors in Sochi, allows us to now look forward to the next round in Geneva with the strong hope that the way is now paved for concrete decisions between the Syrian parties including on transitional governance, a constitutional process and UN-supervised free and fair elections”.