President Putin, Saudi King Discuss Situation in Syria

MOSCOW, (ST)-The situation in Syria, ways of attaining settlement in the country and the critical situation in the entire Middle East were topics discussed during a phone call on Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin announced.

The phone conversation focused on several issues including settling the crisis in Syria and the results of the quartet meeting on Syria held in Vienna last Friday between the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, according to a Kremlin statement which pointed out that the phone call was initiated by the Saudi side.

Lavrov, Iranian, US and UAE Counterparts Discuss Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, discussed over phone with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawad Zarif the situation in Syria in terms of the fight against terrorism and the work aiming to organize the political process to solve the crisis in the country.

 “The two ministers exchanged view points on ways to mobilize international support for diplomatic efforts aiming to attain political settlement with the participation of influential countries in the region.

Lavrov also had a phone conversation with US State Secretary John Kerry on prospects of solving the crisis in Syria.

RT cited a Russian Foreign Ministry statement as saying that the Russian and US sides discussed steps that may be taken to encourage efforts seeking launching the political process in Syria with the participation of main countries in the region.

In the same context, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement said a Russian-initiated phone call between Lavrov and his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zaid Al Nahyan “concentrated on activating efforts by all sides to decisively confront the terrorists and launch the political process in Syria as soon as possible.”

Hamda Mustafa