Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian have held a telephone conversation, discussing the situation in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke in favor of better contacts between the Astana format and the so-called small group on Syria targeting ‘a search for common denominators,’" the ministry said in the statement.
"The Russian side confirmed the readiness to cooperate in the interests of the Syrian settlement without attempts to artificially drag out the UN functions in the political process," TASS cited the statement as saying.
The ministers "discussed the development of the situation in Syria and around it in detail with focus on the prospects of launching a constitutional committee." Lavrov told Le Drian about "Russia’s efforts to stabilize the situation in Syria, including providing humanitarian support, and stressed Russia’s readiness to promote the political process based on UNSC Resolution 2254 and the decision of the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue," the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.
