Top Russian, American diplomats agree to meet again over Syrian crisis

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday agreed to meet on Jan. 20 in Zurich, Switzerland, over international issues including Syrian crisis.

The two made the arrangement in a conversation over the phone in the day.

"Lavrov and Kerry agreed to meet on January 20 in Zurich," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an online statement. "In accordance with orders by the Russian and U.S. presidents, who discussed urgent global issues in a phone call yesterday, the top diplomats continued the discussion of Syrian crisis settlement as well as the conflict in Ukraine."

Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at a news briefing Thursday that a considerable part of the meeting would be dedicated to issues of Syrian settlement.

"We are proceeding from the assumption that the topic will be discussed in the most active way," Zakharova said. "We hope that the meeting will add constructiveness to the general process of Syrian settlement."

The tripartite Russia-U.S.-UN consultation was held Wednesday on peace settlement in Syria, the ministry said, noting that opinions were exchanged in details on issues related to the intra-Syrian peace talks scheduled for Jan. 25 in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The Russian side stressed the need for unfailingly honoring the provisions of the Vienna documents and UN Security Council Resolution 2254 on establishing an inclusive delegation of Syrian opposition that would include all influential forces committed to resolving the crisis through political means," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

In particular, the list of terrorist groups should be coordinated jointly as soon as possible, while possible humanitarian measures were discussed so as to mitigate the "plight of civilians," the ministry said.

In meetings held in Geneva Wednesday and Thursday on Syrian crisis, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov also met with several leaders of influential Syrian opposition groups over the organization of the planned intra-Syrian peace talks.

"They pointed out that the intra-Syrian talks must be attended by delegates from the large opposition forces that are interested in finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis, so that the interests of all segments of Syrian society are represented at these talks," said the press release for the meetings.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also stressed Thursday the urgent need for all interested states to consolidate actions and confront the Islamic State the extremist group and other extremist groups.

In another development, Russian government earlier in the day released the full text of the agreement with Damascus, signed by the two countries in August 2015, on the deployment of a combat air force in Syria.

The Russia air forces started airstrikes against IS positions in Syria on Sept. 30, 2015, with Russian aircraft deployed at Syria's Hmeimim airbase. Endit