Russia: Kurds must be included in Syrian peace talks

Moscow and Washington have also been at odds over the targets of Russian air strikes in Syria.

During his visit to Moscow, Secretary of State John Kerry talked at length with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and came out of those talks with a shocking declaration that “the United States and its partners are not seeking regime change in Syria”.

Kerry also said he and Putin discussed an exchange of information on the location of antiterrorist operations in Syria. Zakharova also confirmed that Sergei Lavrov will attend the global meeting in NY on Friday on the Syria crisis.

But in Tuesday’s talks, the two sides did not focus on their differences or what could or could not be done immediately about Assad, said Kerry, but on the political process.

A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Tanju Bilgic, said that Ankara was not going to compensate Russian Federation for shooting down Sukhoi Su-24 bomber aircraft over Syria.

Kerry said neither IS militants nor the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front would be involved.

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

Lavrov said Moscow wanted more precise information from Riyadh about the initiative.

The US and allied nations want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave office as part of a resolution to the civil war, while Russian Federation opposes the move and says it’s a matter for the Syrian people.

“We are ready (for negotiations), based on the principles (agreed in Riyadh)”, he told Reuters.