Russian, US diplomats to hold meeting on Syria in Geneva

Russian and US diplomats will hold a bilateral meeting in Geneva on Monday evening on the Syrian political crisis, according to Paul Patin, public affairs officer at the US Mission in Geneva. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov is expected to stay in Geneva till February 4. Moscow hopes that meetings in Geneva will allow the launching of a political process in Syria, he told TASS on Monday. A Russian team will also meet UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson and Chairman of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party Saleh Muslim. A trilateral Russia-US-UN meeting and talks with the head of the Syrian government delegation, Bashar Jaafari, are scheduled for February 2. The meeting between de Mistura and the Syrian government delegation has been postponed.