MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Moscow calls on Washington and Berlin to influence armed opposition groups and terrorists in Syria’s Idlib with whom they are keeping in contact, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.

"We want to call on colleagues in Washington and Berlin, using the opportunities that they have, to influence the armed opposition members and terrorist structures - in the latter case I’m speaking about the US, not about Germany - with which they retain contact," the deputy foreign minister said, commenting on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump’s appeal to Moscow to influence Damascus regarding the situation in the governorate.

German Speaker of Government Steffen Seibert earlier released a statement on the telephone conversation between Merkel and Trump, which says that the German and US leaders called on Russia to influence Syria’s government to avoid escalation of tensions in Idlib.