UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for Moscow's role in the recent progress that has been achieved on Syria, the UN said Tuesday.
“The Secretary-General met Foreign Minister Lavrov this morning, and thanked him for his significant role in achieving recent progress on Syria. They agreed on the importance of urgently moving forward simultaneously on implementing the cessation of hostilities agreement, providing vital humanitarian assistance to civilians, and returning to political negotiations,” the UN said in a statement.
According to the statement, Ban also thanked Lavrov for Russia’s "constructive and important" role in dealing with North Korea.
Ban and Lavrov called for an end to hostilities in Yemen and for further progress on implementing the Minsk accords on Ukrainian reconciliation.
The ceasefire is said to be generally holding. On March 7, the UN-brokered intra-Syrian reconciliation negotiations are set to restart in Geneva to work out a permanent truce.
