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Senior Russian diplomat says no communication on Syria with high-profile US officials

Sergey Ryabkov noted that the communication channels for exchanging signals were open

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. There has not been contact between high-level officials in Moscow and Washington on the situation in Syria, even as channels on the working level remain open, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

"As regards the latest developments [in Syria], no high-profile contact, on the working level, has been held, including as part of [efforts toward] resolving the conflict, while [communication] channels for exchanging signals are open," the senior Russian diplomat told reporters.

In late November, armed opposition militias launched a large-scale offensive against the positions of the Syrian army. On December 8, they entered Damascus, after which government troops left the city. President Bashar Assad resigned and fled the country. A Kremlin official told TASS on Sunday that Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow. Russia granted them asylum for humanitarian reasons.