Press release on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu

On August 20, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu upon the initiative of the Turkish side.

The parties discussed prospects of stepping up the peace process in Syria, and reaffirmed Russia and Turkey’s readiness to support the work of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, whose third meeting is scheduled for August 24. They noted the importance of increasing comprehensive counterterrorism efforts and preventing new terrorist attacks.

The ministers had an in-depth discussion on the developments in Libya. They stressed that there was no alternative to a political settlement of the crisis in the interests of this nation based on the existing international legal framework, above all, UN Security Council Resolution 2510 and the decisions of the Berlin Conference held on January 19, 2020. They agreed to continue consultations to help the parties establish a cessation of hostilities as soon as possible and launch an intra-Libyan dialogue on ways to settle the conflict through political means.

The ministers also discussed the schedule of upcoming bilateral contacts at the high and highest levels on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.