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Conflict in Syria

Lavrov, Guterres discuss Syrian crisis over phone

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a telephone conversation on August 13

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a telephone conversation on Monday to point out that the solution of the crisis in Syria depended on the readiness of foreign actors to observe international law, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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The two sides discussed the outlook for raising the effectiveness of the United Nations, including its conflict prevention and peace-making efforts.

"There was an exchange of opinion of issues on the UN agenda with a special emphasis on Syrian settlement problems," the Foreign Ministry said. "The unanimity was expressed progress in settling crises directly depends on the readiness of UN member-states to exert collective efforts on the basis of international law and the goals and principles of the UN Charter."

The guarantors of reconciliation in Syria (Iran, Russia and Turkey) have agreed on the basis of the results of their meeting in Sochi on July 30-31 to go ahead with assistance to the UN Secretary General’s special envoy, Staffan de Mistura, in forming a constitutional committee and to create conditions for the safe return of Syrian refugees. A pilot project is being launched to exchange lists of prisoners of war and those listed as missing or killed between the parties to the conflict. The next high level meeting on Syria is due in November.

The Ukrainian crisis

Lavrov informed Guterres about contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian ombudspersons.

"At his request, the UN Secretary General was informed about the situation around contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian ombudspersons," the ministry said.

Russian and Ukrainian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Pyotr Poroshenko, who had a telephone conversation on June 9, agreed to organize visits of Russian nationals kept prisoner in Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens serving prison terms in Russia by the two countries’ ombudspersons. The Russian foreign ministry has repeatedly said it is ready to help organize contact between the two countries’ ombudspersons.

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Foreign policy Syrian conflict

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