Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry

On March 2, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.

The parties held a substantive exchange of opinions on the conflict in Syria. Mr Lavrov noted that relying on a military solution is hopeless, and underscored the importance of creating conditions for a full-fledged political dialogue between the official Damascus and the opposition, applying, among other things, the experience of the inter-Syrian meeting that took place in Moscow in January.

Special attention was focused on the threat posed by the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS), which has seized some areas in Syria and Iraq, left a bloody trail in Libya and infiltrated Afghanistan. Sergey Lavrov called for coordination between the anti-ISIS international coalition and Syrian government troops, which bear the main burden of the struggle against terrorists on their land.

The Ukrainian crisis was another focal point of the meeting. Both sides accentuated the need to implement the measures stipulated by the Minsk Agreements, which were coordinated on February 12 with the help of the leaders of the Normandy format member countries, and were approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2202. Mr Lavrov reiterated Kiev's commitments to carrying out constitutional reform and granting special status to Donbass.

Furthermore, the sides discussed prospects for a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme, for revitalising the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and other pressing international problems on which Russia and the US are working together.