"It is too early to talk about the start of the constitutional committee's work… The delay in the formation of the commission is caused by the attempts of a number of Western countries to intervene in this process, as well as by obstacles created by Turkey," Muallem said, speaking at Damascus University.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will report to the UN Security Council on the results achieved on the formation of the constitutional committee on December 20.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the Syrian constitutional committee would be able to meet in early 2019.

The creation of the committee, which is expected to draft Syria’s new constitution, was agreed upon during the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in the Russian resort city of Sochi in late January. The committee is aimed to develop recommendations and adjustments to the Syrian constitution. The constitutional committee should consist of 150 people, but so far it is formed only by two-thirds.

Reporter’s code: 50101