“A meeting on Syria between Minister Lavrov and State Secretary Kerry in the near future is being worked on”, the ministry’s press service said.
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Obama added he had instructed Kerry, while Russian President Vladimir Putin had told his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, “to keep working at it over the next several days” in hopes an agreement could lead “to a serious conversation about a political solution to this problem” with all parties directly or indirectly involved in the Syrian conflict.
“But it is worth trying”, Obama went on.
On Sunday, Mr. Obama expressed skepticism that the USA and Russian Federation could reach a deal, and if so, that Mr. Putin would abide by it over the long term. USA officials blame Russian intelligence for a hack on the Democratic National Committee that resulted in a leak of emails damaging to its presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.
Obama and his Russian counterpart Putin met Monday as talks between their governments on ending violence in Syria ended without an agreement.
Obama first held a “pull-aside” with President Francois Hollande of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
The visit opened on a high note, with the United States and China consummating their unlikely partnership on climate change by announcing they were both entering the global emissions-cutting deal reached past year in Paris.
“There are five different wars being waged” in Syria is a characterization expressed by more than one person involved in the cease-fire talks.
World powers have not ruled out Turkey’s idea for a “safe zone” in Syria but they have not shown a clear will to implement the plan either, the spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
“We regret that the meeting of the two presidents (which took place on the G20 sidelines as well as prior to the summit) were framed with extra steps to expand sanctions”.
To the frustration of the White House, these weighty matters seemed to be overshadowed by a made-for-social-media moment from Obama’s arrival at the airport. His next stop is Laos, where he’ll promote his effort to deepen ties to Southeast Asia.
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Asked about the mood at the meeting, Peskov said, “It went well”.
