Kerry and Lavrov Discuss Ukraine and Middle East Crisis

According to news agencies, John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, spoke by phone on Thursday, January 1, about the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine. A senior U.S. State Department official announced that during the phone call, 'they discussed the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.' The Itar-Tass news agency also reported a similar statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, indicating that 'the conversation was initiated at the request of the American side.' According to Tass, both sides also exchanged New Year greetings. The issues of Ukraine and various crises in the Middle East, including the Syrian civil war, are among the topics where Washington and Moscow have significant disagreements. Russia is considered a supporter of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, while the United States backs the opposition in Damascus. The situation in Ukraine has caused one of the deepest crises and tensions in Russia-West relations since the end of the Cold War over the past year. Washington, which supports the central government in Ukraine, has accused Russia of interfering in its affairs and supporting separatists in the east of the country. This has led to sanctions against the Russian government, which Moscow has denied. Recently, Russia warned that increased U.S. sanctions against it could hinder their bilateral cooperation on issues such as Iran's nuclear program or the Syrian crisis. Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated on December 30 that Moscow would not leave the U.S. decision to escalate sanctions against Russia unanswered. Meanwhile, the United States voted 'no' on a resolution proposed by Arab countries and Palestinians for peace with Israel, which set a timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories. Russia had voted 'yes' on this resolution, which ultimately did not pass the United Nations Security Council. The last time Kerry and Lavrov met face-to-face was in mid-December last year (two weeks ago) in Italy, where they discussed issues such as Syria and Ukraine.