Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with Patriarch John X (Yazigi) of Antioch and All the East

During the meeting they discussed the situation that is taking shape in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, focusing special attention on the position of the Christian population, which is becoming a target of cruel attacks, and harassment by international terrorists and extremists in conditions of instability and bloody conflicts.

The patriarch highly praised Russia's consistent and active efforts to protect Christians in the vast space of the Middle East, and its peacemaking role in other areas, including the Ukrainian conflict.

The sides also emphasised the need to consolidate the positions of the world community for an effective struggle against terrorism on the basis of a universal and comprehensive approach relying on international law and millennia-old traditions of interethnic coexistence in the Middle East.

Mr Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's immutable and consistent line towards reaching a political settlement in Syria via inclusive intra-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012 and without any preconditions and outside interference.