Russia, Germany interested in making Geneva process on Syria permanent - Lavrov

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Moscow and Berlin are interested in making sure that the "Geneva process" on Syria becomes permanent and effective, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday following talks with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel. "We talked about Syria as well. We have a common interest to make sure that the Geneva process gathers momentum and becomes permanent and, most importantly, effective," the minister said. "The meetings in Astana held in February, which will continue next week (tentatively on March 14-15 - TASS) are very useful, as both our counterparts in the United Nations and the member-countries of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) say," the minister noted. "We hope that concerted effort at the Astana and Geneva platforms will make it possible to simultaneously make progress in consolidating the ceasefire, including on investigating violations and taking steps in response to them and on the political settlement in accordance with (UN Security Council - TASS) Resolution 2254. That also implies efforts aimed at stepping up the fight against terrorism and ensuring greater coordination between all those who can contribute to this fight against ISIL (former name of the Islamic State, IS, terrorist group outlawed in Russia - TASS) and Jabhat al-Nusra." Lavrov also pointed to regular cooperation with German counterparts on Afghanistan and the Libyan settlement. "In the context of Germany’s G20 presidency, we have synchronized our positions on key issues on the agenda of the upcoming G20 ministerial and presidential meetings," he added. Read more