Russia lauds lawmakers’ initiative to keep in touch with US colleagues

The Foreign Ministry lauds an initiative by Russian parliamentarians to hold contacts with the US colleagues on Syria, the ministry’s special envoy for the Middle East settlement, Sergei Vershinin, said on Tuesday. “The trip to the U.S. by our parliamentarians will have big significance. It is important to inform the civil society about our position,” Vershinin said. On Monday, September 2, chairperson of the Federation Council, upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko and speaker of the State Duma, lower house of parliament, Sergei Naryshkin addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to convince parliamentarians of both countries to meet over the Syrian conflict. “We believe that it is necessary to involve the parliaments of our countries more actively. We want to address the deputies of both houses of the parliaments to start the dialogue with our partners,” the diplomat said. “I’m ready to uphold this initiative. I’ll do all depending on me,” Putin said, adding that he would talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to ask him to contribute to the initiative.