Russia, US Agree on mid-November for Syria Talks: Lavrov
Local Editor
Russia and the US have agreed to push for holding Syria peace talks in mid-November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday after talks with his US counterpart John Kerry.
"We advocate holding the international conference (on Syria) in mid-November," Lavrov told journalists after holding talks with Kerry in Bali, Indonesia.
He further stated: "Today we agreed on the steps needed for both the government and the opposition to come to the conference."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also proposed mid-November for the conference late last month during his first meeting with Syria's opposition "National Coalition" chief Ahmad Jarba, who said he was ready to send a delegation to the meeting.
For his part, the international UN envoy to Syria al-Akhdar Ibrahimi told France's TV5 Monde Sunday that he hoped the two sides would agree to attend a peace conference in Geneva in mid-November "without preconditions."
This comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry said that "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime deserves credit for complying with the chemical weapons deal."
After the first high-level meeting with his Russian counterpart since Moscow and Washington agreed on the deal, Kerry said: "The process has begun in record time and we are appreciative for the Russian co-operation and obviously for the Syrian compliance."
Kerry and Lavrov met on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia on Monday morning.
The Secretary of State also said that the US has agreed with Russia to move towards Syria peace talks as soon as possible.
Lavrov stressed that Russia is satisfied with the process of chemical weapons elimination in Syria.
The two parties spoke after the UN and OPCW said that they had begun eliminating Syria's chemical weapons, with chemical experts in Syria destroying missile warheads, aerial bombs, and chemical mixing equipment on Sunday.
"I think it's extremely significant that yesterday, Sunday, within a week of the [UN] resolution being passed, some chemical weapons were being destroyed," Kerry stressed. "I think it's a credit to the Assad regime, frankly. It's a good beginning and we welcome a good beginning."
The UN team crossed into Damascus on Tuesday, tasked with dismantling the chemical weapons stockpile.
Lavrov and Kerry both stated that they are in favor of holding the Geneva-2 peace conference on Syria in mid-November and have agreed to press the UN to set a date for the event.
"Today we agreed on steps that will need to be implemented in order to get the [Syrian] government and the opposition to the conference," Lavrov told reporters.
"We will urge a date to be set as soon as possible," Kerry said.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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