Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart John Kerry will meet Thursday and Friday in Geneva to try to hammer out a deal on cooperation in Syria, Moscow said.
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It was still unclear if Lavrov and Kerry would meet in Geneva on September 8-9, as originally planned.
However, US authorities did not confirm the announcement and said “they hope to meet very soon”.
“The secretary remains committed to continuing efforts to try and resolve the outstanding issues in order to reach an arrangement on Syria. but we won’t agree to an arrangement that does not meet our core objectives”.
Kerry and Lavrov have met twice in two weeks but failed to reach an understanding on how to proceed. The Chinese meetings were also followed by the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his USA counterpart Barack Obama. US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said: “We’re not there yet”. Speaking at the G20 Summit, Obama said that talks have been complicated as “gaps of trust” exist between Moscow and Washington.
The United States and Russian Federation have backed opposite sides in Syria’s civil war, which shows little sign of ending after 5-1/2 years of violence in which half the pre-war population has been uprooted.
Russian Federation has insisted that opposition groups separate from al Qaeda linked militants in cities such as Aleppo. An agreement hinges on Russian Federation using its influence over Assad, and for Gulf states to convince opposition groups to take part.
Russian Federation believes that Turkey’s actions “could further complicate an already challenging military and political situation in Syria and negatively affect global efforts to devise a settlement platform that would ensure a more sustainable ceasefire”.
Riyad Hijab, the group’s general coordinator, presented a political transition plan at a meeting in London.
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Russia’s criticism of Turkish military actions came for the first time, although Moscow and Ankara have recently started a process to normalise their bilateral relations, including the resumption of cooperation to fight terrorism.
