Russian, Jordanian FMs meet in Moscow for talks

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia’s foreign minister hosted Friday his Jordanian counterpart in the capital Moscow for a talk on Syria and the Palestine-Israel dispute.

The U.S. move to withdraw its troops from Syria topped the agenda of the meeting between Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and Jordan’s Ayman Safadi, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers also discussed the issue of Israeli-Palestinian settlement, including U.S. statements on the preparation of the so-called "deal of the century" -- an alleged back-channel U.S. plan to decisively settle the perennial Palestine-Israel dispute, and U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The meeting took place prior to another round of Turkish-Russian contacts on Syria between foreign and defense ministers, slated to be held on Dec. 29.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week made the surprise announcement that the U.S. would withdraw its troops from Syria. His decision followed a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which the two leaders agreed on the need for more effective coordination over the civil war-torn country.