Sergei Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia briefs the media at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Russia had suggested a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Ethiopia this week, the RIA news agency reported.

Both men are expected to make Africa trips this week and Ryabkov was cited as saying that Moscow had proposed they hold talks in Ethiopia at the end of the week.

Ryabkov also commented on the situation in Syria’s eastern Ghouta rebel-held enclave.

The Interfax news agency cited him as saying that the U.S. assessment of the situation there “did not correspond to reality.”