Kerry, Lavrov discuss Syria in Hamburg

By Ayhan Simsek

HAMBURG, Germany (AA) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed on Wednesday Syria ahead of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, ministerial council meeting in Hamburg.

In a statement on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Kerry discussed the conflict in Syria and mainly focused on the military and humanitarian situation in eastern Aleppo.

"The ministers agreed on the need to resume the UN-led intra-Syrian talks as soon as possible," the statement said.

It added Lavrov said "the resolute struggle against terrorist groups is the key precondition for a settlement".

Lavrov expressed concern over "unfriendly" steps taken by the Obama administration in an attempt to undermine the remaining foundation for "normal" Russian-US relations.

"We obviously talked about the extraordinarily dire situation in Aleppo and we exchanged some ideas about it, and we intend to connect in the morning to see where we are on it," Kerry said late Wednesday.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.

* Diyar Guldogan in Ankara contributed to this report.