WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with former Syrian National Coalition leader, Ahmed Moaz Khatib on the sidelines of his visit to Qatar.
“We are consulting closely with Russia obviously on next steps in Syria.”
The spokesperson stressed Washington continues to seek a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis.
“Given the complexity, fluidity of the situation in Syria, a political resolution to the conflict could not be more urgent.”
In April, Moscow hosted two rounds of intra-Syrian reconciliation talks. At the second round of consultations on April 6-9, the sides agreed on a 10-point agenda, defining a negotiating framework for the Syrian crisis settlement talks.
Syria has been in a state of a civil war since a 2011 anti-government uprising. The country's authorities are fighting militant groups, including Islamic State extremists.
A number of western countries have long been vocally supportive of what they call "moderate" rebel fighters, while Russia has repeatedly stated Syrian President Bashar Assad is the legitimate president of the country, and the people of Syria must choose their government and leaders without outside intervention.
According to UN figures, over 220,000 people in Syria have been killed and over 11 million displaced since the beginning of the war.
