Kerry in Moscow to push Syria peace plan

The terrorist threat was not limited to Syria as Islamic State was active in Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan, and Russian Federation expected a “comprehensive discussion” on these issues, he said.

Russian Federation and the US are at odds over the mechanics of a political transition aimed at halting the war in Syria as well as the military approach to fighting the Islamic State group.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, greets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as he arrives for their bilateral alongside the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe ministerial council meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, on December 3 2015. And on Ukraine, Lavrov said the USA should use its influence with the government in Kiev to settle the conflict with the separatists by respecting a shaky cease-fire and moving ahead with political reforms in eastern Ukraine. The results of Tuesday’s meetings will determine whether or not a new worldwide diplomatic conference on Syria will go ahead as planned Friday at the United Nations.

The run up to the Moscow talks underlined the space between Moscow and Washington on how to deal with the Syria disaster. “Russia and Turkey certainly have to re-establish the relations of trust that we have always had, but our patience has a limit”, the Turkish foreign minister said.

Moscow and Washington do not agree on what, if any, role President Assad should play in the process to resolve the conflict in his country.

Yet, much as U.S. policymakers would like Putin to be a pariah, the Russian president has instead become a “sought-after essential partner, including for a lot of American allies”, according to Jatras.

Assad’s future and his potential role in the political transition will be prime topics of Kerry’s conversation at today’s talks in Moscow.

Russian Federation says only the Syrian people themselves can decide this.

The US believes Assad’s brutal crackdown on opposition protesters triggered the civil war and drove recruits to the Islamic State group when it profited from the chaos.

What are they going to talk about? Syrian opposition groups, however, demand that Assad leave at the start of the process.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, US President Barack Obama voiced fresh determination to destroy the Islamic State, vowing to kill the group’s leaders and win back territory in the Middle East.

Worldwide talks on Syria in Vienna in November set a January 1 date for dialogue to begin between the Syrian government and opposition groups.

A Syrian photographer carries an injured girl following reported air strikes by regime forces on the town of al-Nashabiyah in the eastern Ghouta region, a rebel stronghold east of the capital Damascus.