MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have told their foreign ministers to keep in close touch and seek "new initiatives" to end Syria's civil war, the Kremlin said after a telephone conversation between the two leaders.
The Kremlin said Putin and Obama also pledged to seek to avoid steps that would harm Russian-US relations, which have been strained by differences over Syria and other issues including Putin's treatment of opponents since he began a new term as president last May.
cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });
console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }The phone call took place three days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and new US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the Syrian crisis at a meeting in Berlin but signaled no breakthrough.
"The presidents have instructed (Lavrov and Kerry) to continue active contacts focused on working out possible new initiatives aimed at a political settlement of the crisis (in Syria)," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Senior US and Russian diplomats have met repeatedly in recent months, along with UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, with little sign of progress toward a solution to the nearly two-year-old conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people.