Moscow confirms John Kerry's visit

U.S. State Secretary John Kerry will visit Moscow next week, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Wednesday.

During the planned visit, Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and possibly Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Kerry's meeting with Putin is "under consideration."

Kerry and the Russian leadership are expected to discuss the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria and the progress of the Syrian peace process.

The Foreign Ministry also said that in a phone conversation initiated by Kerry on Wednesday, Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart discussed how to deepen coordination between the two countries as well as issues related to Syria.

Lavrov said the pullout of Russian forces from Syria facilitated ongoing intra-Syrian reconciliation talks in Geneva which began on Monday.

After nearly six months of air strikes against terrorists in Syria, Putin ordered Monday the withdrawal of most of the Russian air force from the war-torn country, which started on Tuesday.
 [Xinhua -china.org.cn]
  17/3/16
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