Kerry, Lavrov try to settle differences over Syrian talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov ahead of next week’s peace negotiations on Syria.
Lavrov did not say whether he believed the UN-brokered peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition could start on Monday in Geneva as planned, but he said the United States and Russian Federation agreed that “these negotiations will start as soon as possible”.
“The process will begin on the 25th and they will get together and see where we are”, he said at the start of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Davos.
The United Nations has yet to send invitations to representatives for the upcoming talks, and its envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told CNN on Wednesday that the talks may be delayed. But, it was not immediately clear if the differences had been resolved.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry urged Russian Federation to use its influence with Assad “to ensure immediate, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all Syrians in need”, particularly in Madaya, where aid workers have reported deaths due to starvation.
Moscow and Washington insist that the peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition shouldn’t be postponed beyond January, Lavrov said.
Russian Federation is a staunch ally of the Syrian government and has coordinated its strikes with Damascus, saying it is targeting IS and other “terrorist” groups.
With the Iran nuclear deal fully implemented, Kerry said on Saturday, “the worldwide community can finally work to address the other regional challenges without the looming threat of a nuclear- armed Iran – including the crisis in Syria, on which we have made important progress in recent months”.
Russian Federation has been bombing IS and other terror groups in Syria since September 30, 2015.
The two diplomats stopped in Zurich to talk before going by helicopter through the Alps to the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where hundreds of the globe’s rich and powerful are gathering for the World Economic Forum.
“Earlier, former US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the US foreign policy has been caught in a trap by the demand that Assad had to leave office”.
Lavrov was also asked whether Kerry and him had reached an agreement on the participation of the Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Islamin groups in the Syrian talks.
“The Geneva process never clearly stipulated that Assad should relinquish power, but the opposition and the United States said they thought that was the intended goal”, according to the article.
After his time in Switzerland, Kerry will travel to Saudi Arabia, Laos, Cambodia and China.
Riad Hijab, who heads the council, accused Russian Federation of impeding negotiations, and also told a news conference in Riyadh that the opposition could not negotiate while Syrians were dying as a result of blockades and bombardment.