Lavrov, Kerry discuss ISSG involvement to sustain cessation of hostilities in Syria - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. May 10 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed ways to settle the conflict in Syria in a telephone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.
"The foreign policy chiefs continued to discuss ways to settle the conflict in Syria through sustaining the cessation of hostilities in this country, apart from fighting terrorist groups, and supporting the intra-Syrian negotiating process in Geneva under the UN auspices," the ministry said.
Lavrov and Kerry "considered the possibility of using the International Syria Support Group for these purposes, provided that it is clearly understood that there is no alternative to the approaches stipulated in UN Security Council Resolutions 2254 and 2268," it said.
The two also discussed the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area.
The conversation was arranged at the U.S.' initiative.
This was the second telephone conversation between Lavrov and Kerry this week. Speaking on the phone on Monday, they agreed on the need to continue negotiations between the Syrian authorities, and the entire opposition spectrum, through the UN's mediation, and on the condition that the cessation is strictly observed. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website, that Lavrov contented that the Syrian opposition groups taking their lead from the U.S., should dissociate themselves from terrorists, and block supplies to extremists through Turkey. The parties agreed that close coordination between the Russian and U.S. military was of paramount importance.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had said earlier, that Lavrov would take part in an ISSG meeting in Vienna, on May 17.