The 3rd ministerial meeting of the strategic dialogue between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and the Russian Federation opened here today. The delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the meeting was headed by Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Addressing the meeting, the Prince stressed the Kingdom's firm positions to support the Syrian people in light of their tragic situations and sufferings of being killed and displaced by a regime continuing the use of its military machine in all forms against its own people. He said," Our meeting convenes today in serious and tragic circumstances experienced by our brothers of the Syrian people, especially after the failure of the Geneva conference so far to reach a peaceful solution to stop the bloodshed and achieve stability in Syria due to the intransigence of the Syrian regime insisting on using its military machine for killing and injuring civilians. The number of martyrs exceeded 150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand) , and the number is growing every day for the displaced people and refugees inside and outside Syria, for the trapped people in their towns and villages under aircraft and heavy weapons fire". The Prince added that the Syrian people are looking forward that our meeting today contributes to a quick solution to this crisis to stop the bloodshed, protect civilians, deliver humanitarian assistance and enable them to choose their own destiny .
