Lausanne meeting participants reaffirm commitment to Syrian integrity: Russian Foreign Ministry

Participants of a multilateral meeting on Syria in Lausanne, Switzerland have reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining the integrity of the war-torn country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

All parties to the talks confirmed their commitment to preserving Syria as an "integral, independent and secular state" and letting the Syrian people determine the future of their country, the ministry said in a statement, calling for joint efforts from all parties to this end.

On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, together with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Qatar, met in the Swiss city for discussions of restarting the political process in Syria after a ceasefire agreement reached between Moscow and Washington in September has barely held.

At the talks, the Russian side reiterated the need to separate the so-called moderate opposition from the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militants, also known as the Nusra Front, and other terrorist groups.

Earlier this month, the United States unilaterally suspended talks with Russia on a Syria settlement and accused Moscow of failing to fulfill its commitments under the ceasefire agreement reached on Sept. 10. Endi