克里會晤拉夫羅夫

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting Wednesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Zurich, Switzerland as part of a trip to Europe, the Middle East and Asia for talks on issues including the multinational effort to bring political stability to Syria and North Korea's recent nuclear test.

The bilateral talks come at a critical time as plans to launch peace talks on a political transition in Syria on January 25 appear to be in jeopardy.

The United States and Russia are part of the International Syria Support Group, which is backing the United Nations-led effort to bring the Syrian government and opposition together for negotiations. The two countries, however, are at odds over support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A U.N. spokesman said Monday the world body could not send out invitations for the talks until there was agreement on which opposition representatives should attend. Earlier, the Syrian government said it wanted to see an opposition list before the talks.

According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Friday there could be more clarity on the date for intra-Syrian talks following the meeting between Kerry and Lavrov.

Kerry’s final stop, China, comes amid heightened concerns about North Korea’s test of what Pyongyang said was a nuclear device, and the possible response from the international community.美國國務卿克里星期三在瑞士蘇黎世會晤俄羅斯外長拉夫羅夫。這是克里訪問歐洲、中東和亞洲行程的一部分。克里將與有關國家領導人商談許多問題，其中包括謀求敘利亞政治穩定以及朝鮮最近的核試驗問題。

雙邊會談舉行之際，原定1月25日舉行有關敘利亞政治過渡的和談計劃看來有可能流產。

美國和俄羅斯都是國際支持敘利亞小組成員。這個多國團體支持聯合國斡旋促成敘利亞政府和反對派談判。但美俄兩國在是否支持敘利亞總統阿薩德的問題上意見不一。

聯合國發言人星期一說，聯合國在各方就哪個反對派代表可以參加談判的問題上沒有達成協議之前不會發出邀請。早些時候，敘利亞政府表示，希望在參加談判之前看到反對派代表的名單。

俄羅斯文傳通訊社報道說，俄羅斯副外長波戈達諾夫星期五表示，在克里和拉夫羅夫會談之後，敘利亞政府和反對派之間的談判日期可能會更明確。

克里這次出訪的最後一站是中國。許多國家對平壤宣稱進行的核試驗感到十分關切，並正在商討國際社會可以採取什麼應對措施。