Russia's envoy to the UN has warned long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad over his vow to retake all of Syria, saying he faced dire consequences if he did not comply with Moscow over the peace process.
"Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically, diplomatically and now also militarily," Vitaly Churkin told Kommersant newspaper, referring to an international agreement to cease hostilities sealed in Munich last week.
"Therefore we would like Assad also to respond to this," he said, adding that the Syrian leader's stance "is not in accord with the diplomatic efforts that Russia is making."
At their meeting in Munich, the 17-nation group backing Syria's peace process agreed to work for a ceasefire, the lifting of starvation sieges and the resumption of talks.
In an interview with AFP last week, Mr Assad defiantly pledged to retake the whole of the country, speaking before the plan for a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" in Syria was announced.
If Syria "follows Russia's leadership in resolving this crisis, then they have a chance to come out of it in a dignified way," Mr Churkin stressed.
"If they in some way stray from this path - and this is my personal opinion - a very difficult situation could arise. Including for themselves," he warned.
"If they proceed on the basis that no ceasefire is necessary and they need to fight to a victorious end, then this conflict will last a very long time and that is terrifying to imagine."
Mr Churkin however also suggested that the Syrian president's comments were made for political impact.
"It isn't worth putting too much significance into one statement or another and dramatising them," he said.
"We should be guided not by what he says, with all respect for the statements of a person at such a high level, but by what he finally does."
Mr Churkin said of the Munich agreement that "Damascus, as I hope, understands this is a unique chance for Syria after five years of unremitting destruction."
Russia launched air strikes in Syria in September last year to support the Assad regime and fight "terrorists", saying it was targeting the self-styled Islamic State group and other jihadists.
US and Russia hold talks on Syria ceasefire ahead of UN meeting
US and Russian military officials have held talks in Geneva ahead of a wider meeting aimed at trying to secure a cessation of hostilities in Syria.
The unannounced bilateral meeting was aimed at narrowing positions before the two powers jointly chair a United Nations meeting on the issue.
"The idea of the whole exercise is for Russia and the United States to have a joint view. The UN will apparently promote a ceasefire and implementation, and will negotiate with the parties," a diplomat close to the process told Reuters.
Moscow hopes that agreements on a ceasefire in Syria will be reached today, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying yesterday.
UN envoy says 25 February Syria talks unrealistic
Meanwhile the UN special envoy for Syria has warned that the planned resumption of troubled peace talks next week was not realistic, a Swedish newspaper has reported.
"I cannot realistically call for new Geneva talks starting on 25 February," Staffan de Mistura was quoted as telling the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
"We need 10 days of preparations and invitations. But we will aim to do this soon," he said.
Indirect talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and the opposition collapsed on 3 February after a Russian-backed regime onslaught on the northern city of Aleppo, and a second round was pencilled in for 25 February.
"We need real talks about peace, not just talks about talks," Mr de Mistura said.
"Now the Americans and Russians must sit down and agree on a concrete plan on a cessation of hostilities," he said.
