Kerry’s Meetings in Moscow to Center on Syria Ceasefire, Peace Talks

State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Kerry will raise the issues of the ongoing Syrian cessation of hostilities and the Intra-Syrian peace talks during his visit to Moscow this week.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Secretary of State John Kerry will raise the issues of the ongoing Syrian cessation of hostilities and the Intra-Syrian peace talks during his visit to Moscow this week, State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Monday.

“Going into the trip into Moscow, we fully expect that events in Syria will be front and center on the agenda,” Kirby said.

During March 23 —24 visit to Moscow, Kerry will specifically discuss progress made in the cessation of hostilities agreement and how to keep it in place, as well as the UN-brokered Geneva talks between the Syrian government and representatives of the opposition.

Kerry’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov coincides with the scheduled end of the Intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.

Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, a UN-sponsored entity working toward a political resolution to the five-year-old Syrian civil war and maintaining the ceasefire that has been holding since February 26.