The Department of Foreign Relations of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria responded to the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and said that a solution to the Syrian crisis is only possible through dialogue.

The Autonomous Administration said in a statement: “We are working with the government of Damascus to solve problems through dialogue. But the main issue in the current process is that the government of Damascus does not accept the changes and does not modify its mentality. This led to the emergence of the current crisis. The Damascus government does not seriously consider any dialogue, not only with the Autonomous Administration but also with other parties in Syria.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday called for dialogue with the Damascus government and the Autonomous Administration said it considers “this a positive step towards a solution. We reiterate that we are ready for national dialogue and that many meetings have been held with the Damascus government to try and engage it in dialogue. Russia knows that these meetings did not reach any conclusion because of the insistence of the Damascus government to return to how Syria was before 2011.”

The statement added: “The Damascus government does not act in favour of dialogue. The recent deaths and the provocative actions in Aleppo and Jazira are an indicator of this. We state once again that we will work for dialogue and a national solution. We find Russia's mediator role positive and said that practical results can develop in this context.

We reiterate that we are ready for dialogue with the government of Damascus, on the condition that it takes into account the costs we have paid in the fight against terrorism in order to protect Syrian lands and our regions.”