In Russia, Secretary Kerry Looks For ‘Real Progress’ Over Syria

The negotiations held in Moscow between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have been going on for more than 3 hours, “Armenpress” reports, citing RIA Novosti.

He is due to have meetings with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov on Monday.

Russian Federation has consistently said Assad’s future is for the Syrian people to decide, while the USA and many of its allies insist that he go, although they have softened their stance somewhat to allow Assad to play a temporary but as-yet undefined role in the transition.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov began talks in Moscow on Tuesday in an effort to keep the brittle Syrian peace process on track.

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement complaining that Washington was not ready to fully cooperate in the struggle against Islamic State militants and needed to rethink its policy of “dividing terrorists into good and bad ones”. The results of Tuesday’s meetings will determine whether or not a new worldwide diplomatic conference on Syria will go ahead as planned at the United Nations on Friday.

However, in Washington U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Kerry was going to Moscow “with the expectation that there are no preconditions to having this meeting”. The U.S. and its European allies have imposed sanctions on Russian Federation for its continued support for separatists in the east.

Conflict-torn Syria, with the country’s government fighting a number of opposition factions and radical Islamist groups, including the Islamic State (IS, or Daesh in Arabic) and the Nusra Front, is expected to be the main point of the ministerial talks’ agenda.

Both Lavrov and Kerry said that the protracted crisis in Syria – which has pitted U.S.-backed rebels against Russia-backed President Bashar Assad – and the spread of the Islamic State group, would be key issues discussed during their meeting.

Russian Federation has been carrying out air strikes targeting ISIS positions in Syria, but the USA accuses Russian Federation of bombing moderate rebels.

The opposition groups said Assad should leave power at the start of a transitional period.

Kerry’s trip to Moscow is his second to Russian Federation this year. “Given the USA influence on Kiev, it would be a positive factor”.

“We are not playing “Let’s Make a Deal” here”, the official said.