(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will hold talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Friday, Russia's deputy foreign minister said Monday.
"Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem's visit to Moscow and his talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are expected on October 28," deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency Monday.
The visit comes as the West accuses Moscow of perpetrating potential war crimes in Aleppo through indiscriminate bombing in support of a Syrian government offensive to retake total control over the city of Aleppo.
Moscow and Damascus agreed to a recent brief ceasefire to allow civilians and militants not affiliated to terrorist groups to quit eastern Aleppo.
However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Russia was not considering an extension to the agreement.
For more than a year, Russia has been carrying out airstrikes against militant positions in Syria at the official request of the Damascus government. Moscow keeps defending its military assistance to Syria in the fight against militants, saying the attacks are also meant to prevent the return of thousands of Russian nationals who have been fighting along the ranks of militant groups in Syria over the past five years.
Russia has also accused the West of obstructing a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria, saying militant groups backed by the United States and its regional allies have repeatedly violated initiatives for the cessation of hostilities in the Arab country.
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