US Secretary of State arrives for talks in Moscow

Russia’s foreign ministry said that Russian and Kerry Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had consented in a phone call on the need for particular preconditions to be met before any new assembly, throwing its timing into uncertainty.

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.

Mr Putin and US President Barack Obama “over the last several months have discussed the issues relating to counter-terrorism”, Mr Lavrov told Mr Kerry.

They insist Russian Federation has committed to a political transition to end the war, and warn that if it can not get Assad to the table, the Kremlin’s own forces will get bogged down in the fighting.

Kerry’s meetings will determine whether a new global diplomatic conference on Syria will go ahead as planned at the United Nations on Friday.

The new incident involving Russian warships came after the Defence Ministry said a Russian destroyer in the Aegean Sea on Sunday opened fire to avoid a collision with a Turkish fishing boat, with Moscow summoning the Turkish military attache over the incident.

“We don’t have a full meeting of the minds yet (on Assad)”, a senior State Department official told reporters.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister said Ankara’s patience with Moscow “has a limit” after Russia’s “exaggerated” reaction to the weekend naval incident between the two countries. It says only the Syrian people and not external powers should decide his political fate.

He also criticized Russia’s military intervention in Syria, saying it was aimed at propping up the regime of President Bashar al Assad, not combating Islamic State.

The outcome of the Lavrov-Kerry talks is hard to predict, Ryabkov said.

“We, for our part, will keep seeking that the United States administration review its policy that seeks to divide terrorists into “good” and “bad”, the statement says.

Iran, Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement are propping up the Alawite-led Assad government, while Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar back the more moderate Sunni-dominated opposition, along with the US, UK and France.

The U.S. has been pressing its European allies to continue applying sanctions on Russian Federation because of its annexation a year ago of Crimea and its support for the separatists.

The official also rejected suggestions that the US might be willing to ease off on Ukraine if Russian Federation alters its positions on Syria.