On November 17, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru.

The meeting focused on the outlook for Russian-US efforts towards a settlement of the Syria conflict, including the ceasefire, humanitarian relief and counterterrorist cooperation. As Mr Lavrov noted, the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force have not made any flights in the Aleppo area for a month now, while Washington has not to this day divided the US-oriented moderate opposition forces from the terrorists, despite its pledge to do so within a week  after such air operations finished. The parties agreed to continue expert consultations on the ways to normalise the situation through isolating the terrorists.

The discussion also concerned other topical international issues, particularly the situation in Iraq, Yemen, Libya and the Korean Peninsula, and the all-round implementation of the Minsk agreements on the Ukraine conflict settlement.

Mr Lavrov called attention again to the problems stockpiled in bilateral relations due to the Barack Obama Administration’s anti-Russian bias. He stressed that equal and respectful dialogue and consideration for mutual interests was the only way to settle these problems.