Off the wire
• Thousands trapped between Syria, Jordan in need of assistance: ICRC  • Iran condemns French attack on Syrian village  • Britain to maintain close economic ties with Germany despite Brexit: British PM May  • Ugandan military completes evacuation of citizens trapped in South Sudan  • Nigerian military defeats Boko Haram insurgents in restive northeast states: minister  • Rwanda airline resumes flights to South Sudan  • WHO calls for quick action to reduce deaths from viral hepatitis  • U.S. sets preliminary dumping rates on China's large residential washing machines  • Slovakia international Duda joins Berlin  • U.S. dollar rises against most major currencies  
You are here: 　 Home

Russia working with U.S. to speed up Syrian political process

Xinhua, July 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that his country is working with the United States to push forward the peace process in Syria.

"We are working to make our bilateral cooperation more efficient in all aspects of the Syrian conflict settlement process," said the ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

"(The settlement) must be aligned in such a way that would make the work more dynamic and efficient, so that the peace process could move ahead instead of stalling," Zakharova told reporters.

According to the spokeswoman, contacts would be intensified among specialists on both military and political spheres under the framework of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG).

But Zakharova refused to speak of a possible date for next ISSG meeting.

Earlier in the day, a Russian diplomatic source was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency saying that intensive military and political experts' work will begin in the coming days in Geneva of Switzerland.

The discussions would be held on the basis of the developments made during the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Moscow on July 15, the source added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after meeting with Kerry Friday said that they discussed in detail steps that the two sides could take to beef up the efficiency of their joint work in supporting the peace process in Syria.

The intra-Syrian talks brokered by U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was paused with still no date set for resumption, while Mistura said on June 23 that the talks could restart in July.

Mistura then urged the ISSG, particularly its two co-chairs the U.S. and Russia, to enhance efforts seeking to provide tangible results for peaceful settlement in Syria. Endit