US and Russia unite over Nice, divided on Syria

July 15, 2016 23:04

The top diplomats of Russia and the United States today joined forces to pay tribute to the victims of the Nice attacks but remained divided on how to deal with the war in Syria.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took a break from their talks to visit the French embassy in Moscow to sign a book of condolences, before returning to their discussions.

A Russian delegation official told reporters that a planned news conference had been postponed for at least two hours while the two sides separated to confer privately.

After observing a minute's silence for the victims ahead of the talks, Kerry stressed the urgency of closer cooperation in Syria after the Kremlin said today a US proposal for direct military cooperation in the war-torn country had not been addressed in earlier talks with President Vladimir Putin.

"Nowhere is there a greater hotbed and incubator for these terrorists than in Syria," Kerry said.

"And I think people all over the world are looking to us and waiting for us to find a faster and more tangible way" to fight terrorism, Kerry said.

"And you and I and your teams are in the enviable position of actually being able to do something about it," he added, addressing Lavrov.

Kerry's meeting with Lavrov -- which had been expected to finish earlier -- follows what the top US diplomat said were "serious and frank" talks with Putin yesterday.

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