MOSCOW, June 8./TASS/. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has given high marks to Russia’s actions towards ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports after de Mistura met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday.

"The special envoy gave high marks to Russia’s actions towards ensuring compliance with the cessation of hostilities in Syria, including as concerns the implementation of the memorandum on creating de-escalation zones in the Syrian Arab Republic, signed on May 4," the ministry said. "He noted with satisfaction that talks in Geneva and the Astana process complement each other," the ministry said.

Sergey Lavrov and Staffan de Mistura have emphasized the need to continue and step up the Geneva talks on Syria, the Foreign Ministry said in the statement following Moscow consultations.

"Lavrov and de Mistura stressed that it was important to ensure the positive results achieved at the UN-sponsored Geneva talks, particularly concerning the constitution issue," the statement said. "In this connection, the parties emphasized the need to continue and step up the talks, ensuring that they are inclusive, as well as the need to pay special attention to the fight against terrorism," the statement added.

The ministry said Lavrov and de Mistura "continued an exchange of opinions on the whole range of issues of the Syrian crisis settlement" within the framework of their regular contacts.