MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US State Secretary Rex Tillerson discussed during Saturday’s phone talk the stability in north Syria and a peaceful settlement due to be brokered by the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said after the talk requested by the US.

Lavrov and Tillerson "focused on the situation in Syria, including issues of stability in the country’s north and promotion of the UN-brokered peace settlement which the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which is due to be convened in Sochi bringing together a wide range of participants, should facilitate," the ministry said.

"Some other topical global and bilateral issues have been touched upon," it said, noting the two top diplomats "agreed to stay in close contact.".