Al-Moallem Holds Talks with Russian, Belarusian and Sudanese Counterparts in New York

NEW YORK – Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid al-Moallem on Friday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly session.

According to SANA, talks during the meeting, which was positive and constructive, tackled the latest developments in Syria, with al-Moallem lauding Russia’s support and the constant consultations between the two countries’ leaderships.

 Lavrov affirmed that Russia is committed to the priority of separating the “opposition” from Jabhat al-Nusra terror organization before moving forward with discussing any future steps with the United States.

Al-Moallem also met Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei and discussed with him developments on the ground in Syria and prospects of enhancing bilateral cooperation.

The Syrian top diplomat affirmed that Syria is committed to fighting terrorism as a priority. In turn, Makei affirmed that Belarus will continue to support Syria and coordinate with it in various fields.

In a similar meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, al-Moallem affirmed  that Syria is committed to any serious initiative for resolving the crisis in the country, stressing that results cannot be achieved without an international and regional will to support the political solution and without stopping foreign support for terrorist groups.

The two sides also affirmed the need to boost cooperation between the two countries.