US, Russian officials to meet in the Hague next week

The U.S. State Department on Monday confirmed that U.S. and Russian officials will meet next week in The Hague to continue making progress on planning the conference in Geneva. “Undersecretary Sherman and Ambassador Ford will meet in The Hague with their Russian counterparts to discuss this effort next week,” State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said during the daily press briefing. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu at the State Department on August 9 to discuss a range of bilateral and global issues, “including efforts to build more momentum towards Geneva,” Psaki told reporters. “They agreed to have senior members of their teams meet to continue to make progress on Geneva planning,” Psaki added. “We have long agreed with Russia that a conference in Geneva is the best vehicle for moving towards a political solution.”