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Middle East and North Africa

Lavrov discusses Mideast situation on sidelines of UN General Assembly session

John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister discussed situation in Syria from the viewpoint of Russian-American agreements on the elimination of chemical weapons

Photo EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI

Photo EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI

MOSCOW, September 25 (Itar-Tass) - Key aspects of the further advance of the dialogue of the six key nations with Iran on the country’s nuclear program were discussed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday that the ministers’ meeting was held in New York on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly.

“The sides thoroughly reviewed the current situation around Syria, especially the task of implementing the Russian-American agreements on taking under international control chemical weapons in Syria and their subsequent destruction,” the ministry informed. “The ministers agreed to coordinate the approaches within the framework of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), including in terms of creating the conditions for an early political settlement of the Syrian crisis.”

Sergei Lavrov has also discussed with King of Jordan Abdullah II important regional issues with the emphasis on the situation around Syria and the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Wednesday that their meeting took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

At the meeting they also “considered the tasks for the further advancement of bilateral Russian-Jordanian mutually beneficial cooperation in a number of spheres, including energy,” the Russian Foreign Ministry informed.

The situation in Syria from the viewpoint of the Russian-American agreements on the elimination of chemical weapons was discussed by Sergei Lavrov with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

“The two foreign policy chiefs continued the discussion of the situation around Syria, including from the angle of implementing the arrangements on taking Syrian chemical weapons under international supervision and preparation of the international conference Geneva 2,” informed the ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry added that the sides also “considered issues of strategic stability in the context of the U.S. plan to deploy a global missile defense system, as well as other topical issues of relations between Russia and the United States.”

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