Top U.S., Russian Diplomats To Meet On Syria, Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Moscow on March 23-24 for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, aimed to pushing forward the peace process for Syria and Ukraine.
The United Nations envoy sponsoring the Syrian peace talks, Staffan de Mistura, said he hoped the Moscow meeting will help to break an impasse in Geneva over such matters as the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a political transition in that country.
"We are looking with great interest, expectation, hope that the talks in Moscow will be productive," he said. "Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov proved in the past and I hope they will prove in the future that when they do have a common understanding, it helps enormously the process."
One U.S. official told AP that now is the time to get down to "brass tacks" on Assad, whose regime recently denied that he would step down during a political transition as Syrian opposition groups demand.
Kerry also is expected to raise the case of Nadia Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who Russia this week sentenced to prison on murder charges that the United States says are false.