MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry speak for involvement in the Syrian political process of the International Syria Support Group, Russia, the U.S. and UN, the Russian foreign ministry said following a telephone conversation between heads of the Russia and the U.S. diplomatic authorities.
The telephone conversation was initiated by the U.S. side, the ministry said.
"The heads of the foreign policy authorities continued discussing the Syrian topic, and confirmed support for the efforts of the UN secretary general’s envoy for the Syrian crisis Staffan de Mistura to organise next week in Geneva the talks featuring representatives of the Syrian government and of the opposition with the purpose to achieve political settlement in that country," the ministry said. "They paid special attention it is necessary to form truly representational delegation of the opposition and to have the agenda comply with requirements of the UN Security Council’s resolution 2254, including fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, as well as respect for the right of Syrians to determine themselves the future of their country."
"They have expressed common view that in the interests of effective outer supervision of the inter-Syrian political process it would be reasonable to continue using the format of the International Syria Support Group led by Russia, the U.S. and UN," the ministry said.