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Middle East and North Africa

US: Russia plays key role in persuading Syrian government officials to take part in talks

WASHINGTON, January 08, 2:44 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has “played a key role” in persuading representatives of the Syrian government to take part in the negating process, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

She said Russia had played a key role in bringing representatives of the Syrian regime to the negotiating table. They said they would do this and they brought them to the negotiating table, she added.

Psaki confirmed that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would hold a meeting in Paris on January 13. These talks would mostly focus on issues related to the preparation of the Geneva 2 peace conference and the participation in the negotiation of both sides (representatives of the Syrian government and opposition), she said.

Psaki said that more details were expected in the next 24 hours.

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Middle East and North Africa

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