Kerry calls for frequent ground with Russian Federation on Syria, Ukraine

Laying the groundwork for planned Syrian peace talks, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

” ‘I think the world benefits when powerful nations with a long history with each other have the ability to be able to find common ground, ‘ he said”. Mr Lavrov said the Islamic State (ISIS) issue was not limited to Syria, as the group was also active in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.

Russian Federation says its airstrikes have targeted Isil, but Western governments claim mostly moderate rebels are being hit and that Moscow is primarily concerned with shoring up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking before Kerry’s arrival in Moscow, a State Department official said Kerry would also raise concerns about Russia’s continued bombing of Syrian opposition forces instead of the ISIS militants.

Syrian opposition groups have demanded that Assad leave at the start of the process, which is supposed to begin in early January, once the opposition groups have settled on a delegation to negotiate with the government. He thanked Mr Lavrov for his role as co-convener of the Syria talks, and said Russian Federation and the USA could continue this work in NY. The countries, he said, have “widely divergent perceptions of the conflict in Ukraine”.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington last Friday that “the first item on (Mr) Kerry’s agenda” would be Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov listens to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, throughout their meeting in Moscow Tues., Dec. 15, 2015. “I am very glad to meet you and talk on all these issues”, Putin told Kerry.