Lavrov, Ban Ki-moon to discuss Syria, Afghanistan
MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will discuss prospects for settling the conflict in Syria at a meeting in New York, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"As part of a trip to the U.S. together with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for consultations in the 2+2 format, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will make a short stopover in New York on August 8, where he will meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to compare notes on resolving the worst international problems," the ministry said in a statement available on its website on Wednesday.
"In particular, they plan to discuss prospects for settling the situation in Syria in the context of a Russian-U.S. initiative on convening an international conference on Syria and the development of the situation in the Middle East on the whole," it said.
Lavrov and Ban will also exchange opinions on the situation in Afghanistan, which has lately been unstable amid the withdrawal of international troops and the delegation of responsibility for security in the country to Afghan security agencies.