GENEVA (Sputnik) — On Thursday, media reports, citing unnamed US officials, suggested that Kerry and Lavrov would meet in Geneva on August 26 to discuss the Syrian settlement. This information was confirmed by neither Moscow nor Washington.
"The preparation has begun already. It is currently being planned that the visit will be two days long," the source said, giving an affirmative response when asked whether de Mistura was planning to meet the US and Russian officials.
According to the source, de Mistura’s office has special hopes for the meeting of Kerry and Lavrov.
"Such meetings usually give a very strong signal to all participants of the process," the source added.
Both Washington and Moscow have been conducting military operations against terrorists in the war-torn country. The US-led international coalition of more than 60 members has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria since August and September 2014 respectively. Russia began its own operation in September 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
