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Lavrov meets with UN special envoy on Syria in Geneva

Sep 8, 2016 | 1:30 PM

GENEVA — Russia’s foreign minister has arrived in Geneva and briefly met with the U.N. special envoy on Syria.

Sergey Lavrov held about a one-hour meeting with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura at a lakefront hotel in Geneva on Thursday night. No details were immediately available.

The meeting came before expected talks between Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the Swiss city later this week, according to Russian officials.

Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been conducting airstrikes to bolster his forces for nearly a year. The U.S. supports rebels fighting to overthrow Assad and has called on him to step down.