Lavrov and Kerry met in New York

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry are holding a meeting in New York. Negotiations are held at the New-York Palace.

Before the meeting, Lavrov said that the goal of creating a focal point for the Russian Federation, Iraq, Iran and Syria in Baghdad was to coordinate efforts to combat the terrorist organization Islamic State.

“We are coordinating actions (with partners) in the fight against ISIS,” the minister said before a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, answering a question about the purpose of creating the center.

Kerry, in turn, noted that all efforts must be coordinated, but so far this is not happening. “I think the main thing here is that all these efforts need to be coordinated. Now they are not coordinated. We are concerned about how we move forward, but this is exactly what we are here to discuss,” said the US Secretary of State.

John Kerry recalled that on Monday there will be a meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Russia Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin. According to him, this will be an attempt to assess whether there is a way out of the conflict, and to understand whether there is a way “to preserve a united, secular Syria, which can once again find peace and stability without the presence of foreign troops there.” “We hope so,” concluded the US Secretary of State.

Sergei Lavrov, in turn, noted that he was counting on a frank conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States on Monday and hoped that they could find ways to move forward.

“Both we and John Kerry have great hopes for tomorrow’s meeting of the presidents. I hope we can talk frankly and find ways to move forward,” said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Ukrainian question

Sergey Lavrov handed over to John Kerry material comparing the provisions of Minsk-2 and what was done by the conflicting parties in Ukraine, the Secretary of State promised to study the document and familiarize the US President with it.

“We discussed the situation in Ukraine, we passed on analytical material to our American colleagues, which compares what was recorded in Minsk-2 on the one hand, and on the other hand, what was done in practice. John Kerry assured that he would definitely study this document for the meeting with the president and prepare his leader for a serious conversation,” Lavrov told reporters following the meeting with Kerry.