Talks between Lavrov and Kerry start in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin will receive US State Secretary John Kerry after his talks with Lavrov.

In turn, USA ally Saudi Arabia is putting together a rebel coalition that would sit down with Assad’s negotiating team, sign a ceasefire and start a political dialogue. He also met separately with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar. “Russian Federation had been a significant contributor to the progress that we have been able to make”, Kerry said. President Barack Obama has seen Putin briefly twice since then at worldwide summits in Turkey and France.

Ahead of the talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement complaining that Washington was not ready to fully cooperate in the struggle against ISIL and needed to rethink its policy of “dividing terrorists into good and bad ones”.

It says only the Syrian people and not external powers should decide Assad’s political fate. Monday’s talks in Paris would involve preparations for a meeting in NY on Friday with Russian Federation and Iran – the two main backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Lavrov for his part noted that the Syrian settlement requires constant attention with regard to the goals that were set at two rounds of group talks in Vienna.

Mr Kerry will try to prepare the ground for an global meeting on Syria mooted for later this week.

“Obviously, he has a chance to meet with Lavrov all over the world”, the senior U.S. official said.

The United States and Moscow are are at odds over a political transition to halt the war in Syria, as well as the military approach to fighting the Islamic State. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about Kerry’s meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that despite previous similar calls, a lot of Russian airstrikes continue to go toward Syrian rebels.

Kerry came to Moscow on Tuesday not even knowing whether Russian Federation would agree that the next worldwide meeting on the crisis should take place on Friday in NY.

Kerry, during his meetings, will also underscore the importance of implementing the Minsk peace accords on Ukraine and plans for free and fair elections in eastern Ukraine. “Given the US influence on Kiev, it would be a positive factor”.

In Moscow, Kerry will ask for Russia’s full implementation of a February cease-fire in exchange for sanctions relief.