Moscow is calling on its partners in the international Action Group for Syria to step up efforts to once again try to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov discussed the situation in Syria with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
During the meeting, Gatilov “stressed the need for strict observance by all Syrian sides, as well as international players, of the UN Security Council resolutions and decisions included in the final communique of a ministerial meeting of the Action Group for Syria,” which took place in Geneva on June 30.
Moscow underlined “the importance of activating the Action Group for Syria in order to agree on joint steps to reach a political settlement of the Syrian crisis,” the ministry said.
The June 30 talks in Geneva brought together foreign ministers from Russia, the United States, Britain, China, France, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar, as well as representatives of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the European Union.
In their final communique, the participants in the talks called for an immediate end to violence in Syria and the creation of a transitional government based on “mutual consent” between the Syrian authorities and the opposition.
On Thursday, Gatilov also stressed the importance of extending the UN monitoring mission in Syria in order to avoid possible “serious negative consequences” of its cancellation, both for Syria and the entire region, the ministry said. The mission’s current mandate expires on Sunday.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet later on Thursday to discuss the fate of the UN mission in Syria.
The original mission of 300 unarmed observers has been cut to 110 after the intensified violence in Syria forced the monitors to suspend patrols in mid-June.
The United States said last week that unarmed observers should not remain in Syria beyond the August 19 deadline, but that it was ready to consider an alternative UN presence in the country.
Some 17,000 people have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.
