WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Secretary of State John Kerry looks forward to discussing different approaches to reaching a political solution in Syria during his trip to Moscow, US Department of State spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing on Tuesday.
"We need some different approaches. And that’s one of the reasons why the Secretary [Kerry] is going to Moscow," Kirby stated when asked how to make progress on the Syrian peace process. "The Secretary is going to be interested to talk to Russian leaders about their ideas on how we can achieve that outcome."
Kirby noted Washington is mindful that a major breakthrough is unlikely by August 1, the target date for forming a transitional authority in Syria.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is concerned UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura is shying away from his responsibilities by avoiding to convene a new round of intra-Syrian talks, and putting the onus on the United States and Russia to figure out how to advance the political process.
On June 30, Kirby told Sputnik that Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with de Mistura at the State Department to discuss the intra-Syrian political negotiations and plans for next steps in the technical talks with the parties and regional partners.
De Mistura said in a briefing on June 29 that the next round of intra-Syrian talks must be well prepared to ensure the possibility of moving forward with the decisive outcome of a political transition in August.
The latest round of intra-Syrian talks took place in Geneva on April 13-27. The opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) walked out of the negotiations, citing the continuous fighting in Syria and the lack of progress on humanitarian issues.
