Moscow invites Trump officials

Russia's foreign minister says that Moscow is inviting representatives of the incoming US administration to attend upcoming Syria talks in Kazakhstan.

Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference yesterday that Russia is encouraged by President-elect Donald Trump's focus on combating terrorism.

He voiced hope that Russian and US experts could start discussions on "fighting terrorism" in Syria, in Kazakhstan's capital when Syrian government and opposition representatives meet for talks on Monday.

He said: "We hope that the new administration will be able to accept that proposal," adding that the talks in Astana will offer "the first opportunity to discuss a more efficient fight against terrorism in Syria".

Lavrov said that Russia expects that cooperation on settling the Syrian crisis will be more productive than it was with the Obama administration, reports Al Jazeera.

"One of the objectives of the meeting in Astana is first of all to consolidate the ceasefire," Lavrov said of the talks due to begin on January 23.

Organised by rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran, the Astana meeting is the latest bid to put an end to the brutal conflict raging since March 2011.

Lavrov said it was "right to invite representatives of the UN and the new US administration" but did not say whether the incoming Trump administration had confirmed its attendance.

A source in the Russian foreign ministry told AFP the talks would not involve the foreign ministers of participating countries and could last a few days, but did not give further details.

Syrian rebel groups, including the powerful Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), said on Monday they would attend.