Internationally-brokered talks between Syria's government and opposition groups should start this month as planned, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry.
Speaking after his meeting with Kerry in the Swiss city of Zurich, Lavrov told reporters neither he nor his U.S. counterpart had thought about seeking a postponement of the talks, which are scheduled to start in Geneva on Jan. 25.
Lavrov also said that a meeting this month between Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to talk about Ukraine had been an initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. leader Barack Obama.
Lavrov said contacts in this format were needed to help ensure a long-term solution for the conflict between Kiev's forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.