Kerry, Lavrov discuss Syria in Hamburg

By Ayhan Simsek

HAMBURG, Germany

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, discussed Syria on Thursday here, on the sidelines of an annual OSCE conference.

The two ministers did not announce any major breakthrough following their talks, and Kerry’s departure before the conference ended has led to speculations, which Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier dismissed.

“It hasn’t come as a surprise. Secretary Kerry has told us in advance that he was leaving early. Because we are preparing another meeting on Syria which would take place on Saturday in Paris. And this is why he left early,” according to Steinmeier, who hosted the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, conference.

France has decided to gather a meeting of like-minded countries, after Russia last week vetoed a draft resolution that sought to establish a cease-fire in Aleppo that would have provided urgent humanitarian aid to civilians in besieged areas.

Russia has so far insisted that armed opposition groups first should leave Aleppo before humanitarian aid could flow to the city.

Kerry and Lavrov held their first meeting in Hamburg late Wednesday and discussed a possible cease-fire in Aleppo.

"We obviously talked about the extraordinarily dire situation in Aleppo and we exchanged some ideas about it, and we intend to connect in the morning to see where we are on it," Kerry told reporters after the meeting.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the two focused mainly on the military and humanitarian situation in eastern Aleppo.

"The ministers agreed on the need to resume the UN-led intra-Syrian talks as soon as possible," a statement said.

It added that Lavrov said, "the resolute struggle against terrorist groups is the key precondition for a settlement".

Lavrov expressed concern about "unfriendly" steps by the Obama administration in an attempt to undermine the remaining foundation for "normal" Russian-U.S. relations.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.

* Diyar Guldogan in Ankara contributed to this report.