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Syria truce revival to be discussed in Lausanne Saturday: Russian Foreign Ministry

Xinhua, October 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Top Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet on Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, with their counterparts of some other countries to discuss the reinstatement of the ceasefire in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"On Oct. 15, a ministerial meeting on Syria will take place in Lausanne in so-called narrow format," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

She said the meeting had been agreed between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. State Secretary John Kerry, and representatives of some "influential powers of the region" including Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

But she added the final list of participants had yet to be completed.

The main issue of the discussion will be the prospects of Syrian settlement with an emphasis on the necessity to renew the ceasefire regime on the basis of the agreements reached between Russia and the United States on Sept. 9 in Geneva, Zakharova said.

To that end, the separation of the moderate opposition from terrorists is necessary, primarily in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Aleppo, she added.

To guarantee the success of the Lausanne meeting, all the main players will also have to assume certain responsibilities and to carry out work with the opposing forces in order to guarantee strict observation of the truce conditions by all parties, said the spokesman.

In case of success, real conditions will be created for the restart of the political process of intra-Syrian settlement, Zakharova said.

The United States have earlier announced the suspension of negotiations over Syria amid continued air strikes in Aleppo that shattered the ceasefire agreement reached in September.

In response, Moscow accused Washington of consistently failing to fulfill its promise to separate the moderate opposition from terrorist groups. Endi