MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a telephone conversation on Saturday initiated by the U.S. side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The two men discussed various aspects of the Syrian crisis and goals of the fight against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups along with interaction backing up UN efforts aimed at promoting a political process in Syria in line with provisions of the Geneva communique of June 30, 2012, the ministry said.

Lavrov and Kerry agreed to maintain close contacts on the Syrian settlement.