MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) - High-placed Russian and American diplomats on Friday discussed the Russian proposal for convening an international conference on Syria.
"Russian-American consultations on Syria were held at the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 8. Russia was represented by the Kremlin's Middle East envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, and the United States by U.S. special envoy on the Middle East Frederick Hoff and U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"A committed discussion was held on ways to facilitate the peaceful settlement in Syria with an accent on efforts to mobilize international support for the implementation of the Kofi Annan plan by all the parties. Practical aspects of the Russian initiative to convene an international conference on Syria, was discussed in this context," the ministry said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier proposed calling a meeting of countries that can influence the conflicting parties in the Syrian conflict under UN aegis as soon as possible.