Putin Discusses Results of Russia-US Talks on Syria with Security Council

MOSCOW-Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council to discuss the results of Russia-US talks on Syria, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, Itar Tass reported.

The meeting “discussed the results of the Russian-US contacts held in Geneva late last week,” Peskov said.

 Russia’s delegation at the talks was headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the US delegation was led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Kremlin spokesman said.

The Russian presidential spokesman declined to comment on media reports that the Geneva talks had discussed the possibility of a joint Russian-US operation in Syria.

“The negotiations were held at the level of the foreign minister and the US Secretary of State. That is why, our Foreign Ministry should, after all, be the prime source in making public any results of very tense, continuous and substantive talks,” Peskov said.

As Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said after the Geneva talks, the task of coordinating air strikes against terrorists in Syria remained a key unresolved issue at the Russia-US talks.

“So far, our coordination on this issue has not been established with US partners and the US-led coalition but this is one of the tasks we’re solving,” the Russian foreign minister said.

As Lavrov said, Russia and the United States intended to submit a document on Syria soon and there were “just few issues” that had to be resolved to complete work on its preparation.

H.M