Lavrov, Kerry Agree Mideast States Should Join Syria Crisis Settlement

Lavrov and Kerry agreed that all main countries in the region should join efforts aimed to establish intra-Syrian political dialogue.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US State Secretary John Kerry discussed on Tuesday the ongoing Syrian conflict and agreed that all main regional countries must take part in reconciliation efforts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The sides continued discussions of the Syrian conflict, including the efforts to launch intra-Syrian political dialogue with mediation of the international community," the ministry said in a statement.

On Friday, the United States announced it would consolidate plans to hold broader, multilateral discussions on Syria as soon as the end of this week.

"Lavrov and Kerry agreed the need for all main countries in the region to join these efforts."

Syria has been in a civil war since 2011, with opposition factions and Islamist terrorist groups such as the ISIL and the Nusra Front (Jebhat Nusra) fighting the Syrian Army.

Moscow has said that it is crucial to begin full-scale talks between the Syrian authority and its opposition, with the broad participation of regional actors like Iran, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, to diplomatically solve the protracted Syrian civil war.