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Steinmeier hopes Russia, US will advance in coordinating positions on Syria within day

At a meeting on September 22, the group on Syria failed to agree on a German initiative on introducing a temporary no-fly zone
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier  Stringer/Photo via AP
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
© Stringer/Photo via AP

UNITED NATIONS, September 23. /TASS/. Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expects that Moscow and Washington will make progress during the day in coordinating positions on Syria, the country’s foreign ministry has said.

"I hope that the news that we can get within the night or tomorrow (on Friday) from the capitals, first of all from Washington and Moscow, will allow us to make headway," Steinmeier said after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

At the meeting on Thursday, the group failed to agree on a German initiative on introducing a temporary no-fly zone over Syria, he said, noting that the sides "supported a proposal on introducing a time-limited regime of banning all military flights as a condition for resuming truce."

"We should look whether we make headway in the coming hours and days," Steinmeier said. "Today we failed to reach final agreements. Some ministers should hold consultations with the capitals," he added.

The ISSG has a coordinated demand to all representatives of the Syrian opposition, he said. "We have a clear expectation that the opposition groups should in fact conscientiously distance themselves from the radical groups IS and al-Nusra."