Lavrov and Kerry discuss steps on disengagement between terrorists and opposition in Syria

VIENTIANE, July 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that he discussed with US State Secretary John Kerry steps on disengaging between terrorists and opposition in Syria. "We discussed the situation in Syria with US State Secretary John Kerry following the agreements reached during John Kerry’s visit to Moscow," Lavrov said. "Agreements were made on practical steps that should be made to effectively fight against terrorists, to prevent the situation when so-called moderate opposition remains on terrorist-controlled territories and wants to participate in the ceasefire regime and at the same time wants to ensure that this regime does not inflict any damage on Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra," he added. "US has assured from the beginning of the year that they will be able to disengage between the opposition with which they cooperate and terrorist structures. However, they have not managed to do this so far," the foreign minister stressed. "Agreements reached at the last meeting with US state secretary in Moscow were discussed during the recent contacts between our experts. If they (agreements) are implemented, we hope that we will be able to ensure disengagement between opposition forces and terrorists from Islamic State (IS) and Jebhat al-Nusra (terrorist organizations both banned in Russia)," Lavrov said. "We discussed what needs to be done in order for this agreement to start working in practice in the form of activities of Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and US forces, as well as US-led coalition," he added. Read more