Kerry: ultimate answer is a negotiated political solution

Russian and U.S. officials agreed on Friday on the need to convene a Syrian peace conference in Geneva as soon as possible and will meet again by the end of the month to prepare for the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Reuters quoted Minister Lavrov as saying that the mood of talks in Washington between the top U.S. and Russian diplomatic and defense officials was very positive.

Both Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged their sharp differences over Snowden and other issues going into the talks, which also included Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.

“Edward Snowden did not overshadow our discussions,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that he believed that case should not affect “mainstream” U.S.-Russia relations.

As the so-called “2+2” talks opened, Kerry said the two countries need to find ways to work around their sharp differences and make progress on missile defense, Afghanistan, nuclear disputes with Iran and North Korea and the two-year-old crisis in Syria.

“This meeting remains important above and beyond the collisions and the moments of disagreement,” said Kerry.

While Washington and Moscow differ on key aspects of the Syria crisis, Kerry said, “Both of us and our countries agree that to avoid institutional collapse and descent into chaos, the ultimate answer is a negotiated political solution.”

Hagel and Shoigu held talks earlier on Friday, and both said they agreed to work to expand military-to-military cooperation.

kremlin: No deal discussed with Saudi Arabia on changing Syria stance

During Vladimir Putin’s talks with Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar, the Kremlin said.“Putin didn’t discuss any deals,” the Russian president’s aide, Yury Ushakov, answered when asked by RT about media reports, which claimed that a $15 billion Saudi offer was put on the table during the Moscow talks on July 31.

“Specific issues of military-technical cooperation development and other aspects of bilateral cooperation weren’t on the agenda,” he stressed.

According to Ushakov, the talks were organized to clarifying the stance which each country takes in the Syrian conflict. Despite having opposing views on the issue, Moscow and Riyadh have “demonstrated a similar amount of concern” about the events in the war-torn Middle Eastern state, the aide said. 

M. Wassouf