US and Russia have agreed to intensify the drive for a political settlement in Syria but remained divided over President Bashar al-Assad’s future. At a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, United States and Russia had found common ground on the Syrian peace process and on taking the fight to the Islamic State terrorist group.
He said, Mr Putin had renewed Russia’s commitment to the political process under way at UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva. Mr Kerry said, both countries have agreed on a target schedule for establishing a framework for a political transition and also a draft constitution, and the target is August. He said, Moscow and Washington would now step up efforts to get the Syrian regime and opposition to hold direct talks in Geneva.
Mr Lavrov said, as the immediate task they have agreed to push for the soonest start of direct talks between the government delegation and the whole spectrum of the opposition. He also called for a transitional governance structure in the war-torn country.