Kerry says U.S. and Russia plan 'concrete' Syria steps

Source: Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the United States and Russia have planned "concrete steps" for the direction they will take in Syria.

He also urged Russia to use its influence on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt Syrian military attacks on opposition groups and civilians.

Kerry spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone earlier on Tuesday and discussed ways to resolve the Syria crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At a news conference in London, Kerry said he would update his fellow foreign ministers at an international meeting on Syria in the British capital on Tuesday, describing his visit to Moscow last week "and the concrete steps that the U.S. and Russia are planning to take."

"I spoke to Foreign Minister Lavrov again today," he said.

"We both believe that we have an understanding of the direction we are going in and what needs to be achieved and our teams will meet shortly and we are going to continue to do that in order to bolster the cessation of hostilities and in order to increase our capacity to fight back against al Qaeda, which is Nusra, as well as fight back against ISIL," Kerry said.

"We will also do everything in our power to improve delivery of food, medicine, water, incredibly essential humanitarian needs," Kerry said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-lavrov-kerry-idUSKCN0ZZ1JW