Lavrov Arrives in Rome to Meet Senior Officials, Discuss Syria, Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Rome on Thursday to hold meetings with senior Italian officials and discuss the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Ukraine, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.

ROME (Sputnik) — During his visit in Rome on December 1-2, the minister will participate on Thursday at a reception on the occasion of the opening of the international "Mediterranean Dialogues" conference and is expected to hold a one-to-one meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov would also visit Vatican to meet with Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Patrolin and Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

Lavrov also plans to hold a meeting with US State Secretary John Kerry on the sidelines of the conference on Friday. A bilateral meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is also not excluded, a source in the Russian delegation told RIA Novosti.