Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the settlement in Syria and the strengthening of the ceasefire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the settlement in Syria and the strengthening of the ceasefire.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Lavrov and Kerry held a telephone conversation on Friday.

"They continued discussing ways of settlement of the Syrian conflict through maintaining and strengthening the ceasefire regime established there in joint effort of Russia and the US, delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the blocked regions and establishment of a stable political process," the ministry said, TASS reported.

"Lavrov once again stressed the necessity of full-fledged participation of the Syrian Kurds in the talks between the country’s government and its opponents, and the soonest distancing of moderate opposition groups from the terrorist organizations ISIL and Nusra Front which are not covered by the ceasefire," the ministry added.

It said the two top diplomats also looked into other topical international issues, including the situation in Ukraine and around the mostly Armenian populated Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as some issues of bilateral relations.