Austrian FM Kneissl urges EU to launch dialogue with Russia, US on Syria

The European Union should launch dialogue with Russia and the US on the Syrian settlement, Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said on Thursday. Talks between the top US and Russian diplomats and the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s session in New York later this month could yield progress on the Syrian issue, the Austrian Foreign Ministry quoted Kneissl as saying after talks with Mogherini in Brussels. “During a direct contact with US Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo and [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov we need to look for a solution to the Syrian conflict. We are all interested in ending the bloodshed,” the Austrian minister said. The talks concern returning the refugees, humanitarian assistance and reconstruction, TASS quoted Kneissl as saying.