The Russian-sponsored conference, which seeks to advance a political process for the conflict in Syria, announced a decision in which it would advance a constitutional committee that will work under the supervision of the United Nations in Geneva, aimed at drafting constitutional reform. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “The congress has also taken a decision to form a constitutional committee which will comprise the delegates elected today on this congress, and which will also comprise the delegates of those groups which were not present on today’s congress due to various reasons,” he said, while adding that “This result, the creation of the constitutional committee, will be handed over to the United Nations. The work of this new institution – Syrian constitutional committee – will be organized in Geneva according to resolution 2254,” the Russian top diplomat said in a televised interview. The United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura confirmed the formation of the constitutional committee and announced at the closing of the Russian-brokered conference that both the Syrian government and a wide represented opposition delegation that did not attend the conference in Sochi would be part of the committee. De Mistura said, “The constitution committee is to be formed comprising the government of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation along with the wide represented opposition delegation for drafting a constitutional reform,” he announced to the conference’s plenum.
