Russia’s UN envoy does not rule out new spiral of civil war in Syria

MOSCOW, June 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal discussed in a telephone conversation on Monday the developments in the Middle East, as well as the settlement of the ongoing conflict in Syria.

“The conversation focused on the key issues on the regional and global agenda,” the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Particular attention was paid to the task of political and diplomatic resolution of the crisis in Syria and other conflict situation in the region.”

The press service added that the high-ranking diplomats also touched upon the issues of bilateral cooperation development in the trade and economic, as well as energy spheres.

In an effort to settle the Syrian crisis, an international peace conference on Syria dubbed Geneva II was organized by Russia and the United States and kicked off on January 22 in Montreux, Switzerland. No particular progress was reported after two rounds were held in January and February of 2014. The parties to the Syrian conflict agreed to continue their discussions.

The so-called Geneva I meeting was held less than two years ago and resulted in the signing of the Geneva Communique on June 30, 2012.

Fighting between Syrian government troops and rebels has left over 100,000 people dead and displaced millions since its start in March of 2011, according to UN statistics.