Kerry, Lavrov talk on Syria at joint press conference
The United States and Russia have issued a joint statement on the situation in Syria, where Moscow has launched airstrikes against the Takfiri terrorists of Daesh.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, attended a joint conference after a meeting on the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York Wednesday.
Lavrov said the two countries were working to “avoid any unintended incidents” and adopt a “safe approach” while conducting airstrikes in the region.
“We agreed that the military should get into contact with each other very soon,” said the Russian foreign minister, adding talks also focused on Syria’s “political process,” in which Moscow and Washington “have some differences as for the details.”
“But we agreed on some steps, which we will undertake very soon.”
Kerry, for his part, called the talks “constructive,” stressing the necessity for a “military-to-military deconfliction” between the two countries’ militaries in the Syrian airspace.
He noted that they also discussed ways to deal with “the conflict itself.”
“Several options were agreed to be further discussed” after being checked with the capitals, Kerry stated.
Earlier in the day, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter accused Moscow of a “contradictory position,” saying Russia was “pouring gasoline on the fire” in Syria.
“It does appear that they were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces, and that is precisely one of the problems with this whole approach,” Carter said.
Kerry had earlier defended any efforts “genuinely” targeting the terrorists.
Russia’s airstrikes against militants in Syria officially kicked off on Wednesday, shortly after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave Putin the mandate to use the air force in the Arab country.
The US has itself been engaged in airstrikes allegedly against ISIL since last year, despite which the Takfiris have remained in power in parts of Iraq and Syria.
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