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Lavrov, Kerry to discuss Syria, Ukraine settlement in Zurich Jan 20

© Alexander Scherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. During a phone conversation Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry agreed that they will meet in Zurich, Switzerland, January 20 to discuss ways to settle the Syrian crisis and the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

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"In line with an instruction from the Russian and US presidents, who discussed urgent international problems by phone yesterday, the heads of the foreign policy departments continued to consider ways to settle the Syrian crisis and the conflict in Ukraine," the ministry said.

"Lavrov and Kerry agreed to hold a personal meeting on January 20 in Zurich," it said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova said at a briefing Thursday that a considerable part of the meeting will be dedicated to issues of Syrian settlement with account for the fact that Russia and the United States are actively involved in the process and are co-chairs of the "Vienna format".

"We are proceeding from the assumption that the topic will be discussed in the most active way," Zakharova said. "We will hope that the meeting will add constructiveness to the general process of Syrian settlement.".

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov John Kerry

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