MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. The current situation is Syria is favorable for the beginning of "practical settlement of the crisis," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NTV on Friday.
"We are in a situation which… I’d rather refrain from anticipating a breakthrough, but the current situation is much more favorable for starting practical steps to settle the crisis," he said.
"We came close to the beginning of such work in last September. But the Americans failed to implement the agreement that had been agreed with us. It was yet another proof of the Obama administration’s intransigence on many issues," Lavrov noted, adding that after the breakdown of agreements on Syria with the U.S. side Russia opted for closer cooperation on that matter with Turkey.
"We understood that some steps were needed (call it shock therapy, if you want) and used possibilities of the Russian-Turkish relations. Bearing in mind that Turkey had and still has influence on a major part of field commanders we agreed on cessation of hostilities at the level of our defense ministries," he added.