MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has discussed with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem the situation in Syria on September 30 in New York, noting the importance of efforts directed at soonest launch of negotiations process between the government and opposition, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"The broad discussion took place about the situation in Syria and around it with emphasis on tasks of fulfilling the initiative put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin on forming a broad anti-terrorist coalition to fight against the Islamic State threat," the foreign ministry said. "The Russian side stressed that such work should be carried out in accordance with universally recognized international law and principles of respecting Syria’s sovereignty," the ministry stressed.
"The ministers also noted the great importance of efforts directed at soonest launch of negotiations process between the Syrian government and opposition without preconditions and external interference on the basis of Geneva communique from 30 June 2012. The sides reiterated principal support for steps made by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura," the foreign ministry added.
"Several aspects of Russian-Syrian bilateral cooperation were also discussed at the meeting," the foreign ministry noted.
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