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Lavrov, Kerry agree to hold talks on Syria in Geneva September 8-9 — ministry

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov did not rule out that UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura may join the talks

© Alexei Druzhinin/Russian presidential press service/TASS

CONFLICT IN SYRIA

MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed to hold talks on Syria in Geneva on September 8-9, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday following telephone conversation between the two top diplomats.

"Under instructions from the Russian and US presidents after their September 5 conversation on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the two top diplomats discussed the remaining details of the agreements on establishing the Russian-US cooperation in the fight against terrorist groups operating in Syria, expanding humanitarian access and launching the intra-Syrian political process," the ministry said. "(They) agreed to continue the discussion in the course of a personal Lavrov-Kerry meeting in Geneva on September 8-9."

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov did not rule out that UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura may join the talks. He also noted that the resumption of the intra-Syrian negotiations would depend on the course of the Russian-US diplomatic contacts.

Lavrov and Kerry held brief talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in China’s Hangzhou on September 4-5. Efforts to hammer out an agreement on coordination in the fight against terrorists in Syria topped the agenda of the meeting.

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